A BULLETIN OF THE HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT IssueCHAPTER 59:Autumn 2008 HEAD

Issue 59: Autumn 2008 Conservation bulletin

2 Editorial 3 Continuity and Innovation The Old and the New 3 The pace of change 6 Continuity and context 9 Innovation, context and congruity 11 The new in harmony with the old

14 New Understanding 14 Conservation Principles 16 The setting of historic assets 18 Seeing the history in the view

21 The Curator’s Story 21 New English Heritage buildings in historic places 23 Building for tomorrow’s visitors

26 Shock of the New (and Nearly New) 26 Post-war designation: waiting for the dust to settle? 28 Post-war designation: some recent case studies 30 Robin Hood Gardens 31 St Pancras 34 Birmingham’s Bull Ring 36 The Rotunda, Birmingham 38 The Angel of the North 41 Constructive Conservation in Practice

42 News Protecting the past and championing innovative change have for too 44 The National long seemed at implacable odds. At last we are realising that the old Monuments Record and the new can co-exist in creative harmony. 46 Legal Developments 47 New Publications

Originally designed as a celebration of Victorian achievement, William Barlow’s magnificent St Pancras station has been brilliantly re-invented to meet the needs of the 21st century. Working in close partnership, English Heritage and London and Continental Railways have delivered a world-class station that brings together the very best of the old and the new. Paul Childs/Spheroview © Union Railways (North) Issue 59: Autumn 2008 | Conservation bulletin | 1 Editorial: Urban Old and New

Change is the only constant.We experience it most insistently in our urban lives (which is why we cling to the myth of the unchanging countryside). This issue of Conservation Bulletin considers how society deals with urban change and how the historic-environment sector in turn responds to that change.

Urban renewal need not mean marked change. processes that inform decision-making about It can, for political and emotional reasons, mean the impact of new proposals. like-for-like replacement – as the reconstruction The quality of these processes may be of much of central Europe after the Second World illuminated by looking at actual buildings and War shows. Philip Davies’ article in Conservation developments and what they tell us about how Bulletin 56 describes a very similar set of decisions society procures, views and finally judges them. taken in the Inner Temple in London. Some are procured by organisations that are, by Marked change, however, is often a require- definition, committed to the best management ment.When responding to regal demand or the of the historic environment. So we look at how aspiration of the cottage owner, when meeting English Heritage itself, the National Trust and the fashionable requirements of Beau Brummel others fulfil this role with regard to their own or Urban Splash, or when efficiently delivering developments. a social necessity,such as better housing – a However, most buildings are procured by statement is often what is wanted. ordinary organisations driven by the usual mix The statement is made in the context of an of economic, commercial, practical and image- existing urban environment that is, per se, part building concerns and their cases and experience of the historic environment. In today’s terms, are varied and illuminating – as is the fate of what significant parts will be designated with the they build.The quantum of change has persisted result that English Heritage often becomes and relatively new buildings have come up for statutorily involved. renewal.This, in turn has resulted in calls for Response to context has over the centuries their designation. So before turning to look at covered the whole imaginable spectrum. Some particular cases, we need to consider how the contexts are treated as sacrosanct (see Simon issue of designation is approached.The final Thurley,p 11) others as slums (Chris Smith on section, therefore, begins with two articles the pace of change, p 3). Some contexts are considering, first, the nature and politics of imaginatively understood to provide the essence post-Second World War designation and then how of the new design while others – often of equal that relates to public esteem of the nearly new. quality – are frankly ignored. The issue concludes with a number of To deepen our understanding of these examples from around the country that contribute processes and the basis on which the historic particular elements to our understanding of this environment sector engages with the planning hugely important national discussion. system, this issue of Conservation Bulletin first Chris Smith addresses the overarching question of continuity Planning and Development Director (West ), versus innovation.We then turn to the analytical English Heritage

Conservation Bulletin is published three times a year by English Heritage and circulated free of charge to more than 15,000 conservation specialists, opinion-formers and decision-makers. Its purpose is to communicate new ideas and advice to everyone concerned with the understanding, management and public enjoyment of England’s rich and diverse historic environment. When you have finished with this copy of Conservation Bulletin, do please pass it on. And if you would like to be added to our mailing list, or to change your current subscription details, just contact us on 020 7973 3253 or at [email protected].

2 | Conservation bulletin | Issue 59: Autumn 2008 Continuity and Innovation

Change is a natural ingredient of every human settlement.The challenge is to ensure that its scale and form are appropriate to the people it serves.

The debate in England about the management those developments which, in striking a balance of change has often been ill-tempered. Some between continuity and innovation, will afford a commentators have used words close to libel successful future to our towns and cities. and description close to caricature, and have done so in the consciously heightened manner of campaigners. Others have meant every word. The pace of change in post-Second In this first section contributors look to step aside World War England from all that and to consider the underlying urban dynamic, the range of potential philosphical Chris Smith responses to that dynamic, and the case for Planning and Development Director (West), managerial intervention. Chris Smith and Hank English Heritage Dittmar both note that the pace of change The large majority of changes to places are fundamentally affects how we respond to it but incremental. For every intervention of the radical also how we must accommodate its necessary and nature and huge scale that Baron Hausmann vital variety.Dittmar’s and Richard McCormac’s imposed on Paris there are hundreds of lesser elegant theses remind us that, at the civilised heart changes.The slighting of castles and the towns of the debate, there is room for agreement on around them in the Civil War, the demolition or the importance of continuity,context and a radical alteration of the abbeys and monasteries thoughtful dialogue with the past, while there and their estates at the Dissolution – these are is ample scope for disagreement about how atypical. the equally necessary innovation may best be More typical is the process revealed by map expressed. Simon Thurley puts all this in a regression in most towns in most centuries.The historic and then a current context, and in the space around the cross is cleared to allow more latter proposes a disinterested way of identifying space for a market or traffic.The market is slowly encroached upon; some encroachments are later removed.The merchants first build and then move out from their grand houses and, over the course of centuries, some are re-used, coming to house businesses or hotels, others are replaced.A road is widened and the corner plots combined to accommodate a show palazzo for the newly successful bank.A new quarter is begun, but is left incomplete during a recession; only ever part completed it descends into unfashionable dowdiness. Many of these changes are locally very significant, but the impact can be borne and, over time absorbed.Time is the critical agent in the process of change management. The faithful Wider or faster change is far more of a reconstruction of challenge to communities – to their ability to the Frauenkirche in Dresden shows tolerate disruption while retaining a coherent how strongly sense of self and place as well as to their ability to individual buildings adopt the new place.This is one clear motive are valued and how behind the frequent phenomenon of restoration long the emotional following war.The recent completion of the attachment can adhere. repair of the Frauenkirche in Dresden shows how Source:Wikimedia/Hans strongly individual buildings are valued and how Peter Schaefer long the emotional attachment can adhere.

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The huge restorations of Krakow and Prague exemplify not only a will to show the destroyer that their evil work can and will be undone but that it is possible to rediscover a lost place and thus heal deeper social and psychological hurt with the balm of the familiar and cherished scene. After the Second World War, it was not the original response of the English authorities and property professionals to lay great weight on such considerations (although the alert reader will know that the phrase in question – ‘the familiar and cherished scene’ – was to be adopted by the end of the second post-war decade). During those two decades, England was to undergo change at a pace that was remarkable in any one place but quite unprecedented in its impact across the country.With huge, now almost incredible, optimism town planners and architects were commissioned by town clerks and planning plans were left to stand in the way of road- Post-war economic committees to create a vision for new cities widening or similar proposals during decades recovery allowed wherever war damage was extensive at the very of indecision and were thus blighted and doomed massive investment moment when success was least certain. Most to lack of investment, decay and sometimes in Britain’s war- damaged cities. famously Sir Patrick Abercrombie, creator of the demolition. Sheffield’s Park Hill post-war Greater London Plan, as well as Donald The result of all this was that most of the cities housing estate, built Gibson at Coventry,Thomas Sharp at Durham and towns of England faced a massive investment in 1957–61 and now and Exeter and many others, conceived schemes programme as the economy picked up – a listed at Grade II*, that were radical.Abercrombie at Plymouth programme which was widely seen as the chance was one of the outstanding showed the ambition of the most enthusiastic to create a new world which was cleaner, more products of that Beaux Arts architects in the scale and grandeur efficient, healthier and in which individuals had visionary period. of what he proposed.Thomas Sharp in Exeter more independence.The greatest bringer of © English Heritage felt no compunction in replacing the hugely independence was the private car and few could admired Bedford Circus with something foresee a viable future for towns that failed to altogether different at the same time as radically take that into account. altering the traffic infrastructure of the city – at At the same time the agencies of change were proposed great cost to the existing fabric. agglomerating and changing.Where Victorian This common theme pre-dated the war and Edwardian cities expressed entrepreneurial significantly.Gibson’s plan for Coventry was vigour through local banks and department stores, already the subject of controversy before a single post-war towns were offered the uniform product bomb had fallen on the city.Similar ambition of national chains supported by an emerging burned in the breast of many city engineers.The national development sector. war was to provide them with a great opportunity. The resulting programme of change under- Similarly,programmes of slum clearance had a gone by those towns and cities was to have a long pedigree and were about to be given three profound social and cultural impact, although not boosts.The need to reward returning homecom- always that which was expected. Many social ing soldiers and their long-suffering families with objectives were originally achieved and sub- decent accommodation was once more a strong standard housing was replaced by housing at political driver – at a time when Council provi- standards (as codified by the Parker Morris sion of housing was such a political mainstream Committee in 1961) that, outrageously,cannot concept that it was the subject of competition often be emulated today.Schools and factories between the main parties. Some of the housing sprang up and city centres had new shopping lost to bombing was already genuinely precincts and infrastructure that gave primacy sub-standard and its replacement constituted an to the car. accelerated clearance programme. Some of the Designers were keen to take up the opportu- houses on land required for the new grand city nity to develop an appropriate new design

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The Rape of Britain – large-scale clearance, new design languages for the Colin Amery’s and new world, the accommodation of the motor car Dan Cruickshank’s and the adoption of alien new materials – were seminal 1975 attack on the out-of-hand to become associated first of all with shiny new re-development of success and, latterly with run-down failure. the nation’s cities. However, they were also to be tainted for a quite different reason. New technologies had not only enabled an architecture that could look utterly different (requiring no mass construction) but also one which could be of a scale almost entirely out of keeping with historic places.The spaces that such buildings contained were of much greater real-estate value than smaller, more complex and inconvenient older buildings.The result was that there was a new community of interest between developers who could realise far higher values on unencumbered land, local authorities who needed large open areas to accommodate the grander Princesshay, Exeter. elements of their new plans and architects who The interconnected streets and sympa- had the technology which could deliver all this, as thetically designed well as the Modern Movement images of a brave buildings of this new world to inform them. redeveloped These factors, allied to the genuine need for post-war shopping rebuilding after the war, unleashed a juggernaut. complex comple- The 1947 Planning Act’s original ambition was ment the historic language for the post-war world.The tension structures of the unfeasibly huge (every action was to be the area and open up between the design continuity that had informed subject of control in some way – whence arose views of Exeter neo-Georgian influences and the innovation the early invention of Permitted Development) – Cathedral.A large- behind the Modern Movement – primarily from and it included the first acknowledgement of the scale development Europe – was apparent.The latter entailed honest need to protect individual buildings by listing. But has not simply been use of concrete, the material that was central to accommodated that was a tiny part of the legislation compared within a historic city the affordable renewal of so large a part of the to the huge reach of the Comprehensive – it has enhanced it. nation’s buildings and infrastructure. Development Area.The control element of © Princesshay The critical elements of this programme – planning was for long periods the poor relation of the enabling part and, with those powers, authorities and developers together could determine the fate of cities and towns in vigorously effective ways which left people feeling that they had lost any control. In due course, this feeling was transmitted to politicians – not only by their constituents, but also by their own experience of rapidly changing place. By 1967 this was to have a practical parliamentary outcome in the form of the Civic Amenities Act and it was in this act that the term the ‘familiar and cherished scene’ was to reappear – as the most eloquent definition of that which the newfangled Conservation Area was intended to protect. While the invention of Conservation Areas may prove to have been the, or at least a, turning point there was little indication of that at first. By 1975, when Colin Amery and Dan Cruickshank

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published their seminal Rape of Britain – an Continuity and context in urbanism and account of ‘this vicious attack on the nation’s architecture: the honesty of a living cities’ – they were able to enlist the Poet Laureate tradition to be, John Betjeman, to endorse their statement that development was out of hand and massively Hank Dittmar damaging.‘This is a devastating book … If there Chief Executive, the Prince’s Foundation for the is some street or old shop in the market square, Built Environment dock, factory or warehouse, barn or garden wall As an American who moved to Britain to take which you have passed often and taken for up post at the Prince’s Foundation, I anticipated granted, do not expect to see it still there next a collegial partnership between conservation week.’ architects and those concerned with historic The passage of such a juggernaut leaves fabric and people like myself planning new devel- great damage in its wake, much of which is as opment that was sensitive to the environment and emotional and deep-rooted as it is unintended. human scaled. Certainly,as an urbanist concerned If the future was to be concrete, the stains soon about the negative impacts of 20th-century sprawl appearing on that concrete were stains too on the and the other detritus of modern-movement communal idea of progress. If the vision promoted theories of the city,I had always enjoyed a robust by post-war planners was to be bought at the cost partnership with what is called the preservation of the loss of huge areas of towns and cities, then community in the US. the price was felt to be too high. I was therefore surprised when perfectly A generation of activists could produce charming senior figures in the UK heritage sector polemic like that of Amery and Cruickshank assured me that there was little commonality and could illustrate their point with images of between the discipline of the conservation (literally) hundreds of acres of northern cities profession and what they saw as the ersatz world where there only survived pubs (which were too of Poundbury,an attitude discordant with our expensive for compulsory purchase), churches President’s view that a living tradition could (too embarrassing) and complete roads with setts, unify the architecture of the past with that of pavements and lights all in situ (because it was too the present. time-consuming to get the road closure orders). Over the past two years, in our own projects Activists could, and did, demand that new and in a series of discussions with the National development be in keeping – a vague, fuzzy Trust Architectural Panel (see Sarah Staniforth’s definition that nevertheless chimed with the article, pp 23–5),The Prince’s Foundation has communal fear that the extensively and rapidly evolved a series of principles for building in an imposed new was alien and unwelcome. historic context.These principles were launched by The echoes of this debate carried on through HRH The Prince of Wales at a conference on New the decades that followed; they are with us still Buildings in Old Places.There are five core ideas. and colour the arguments of the day,to the extent that discussion is often focused on only one, • Recognition that sustainability means building albeit important, issue. Design matters, but so for the long term – one hundred years, rather does the extent and pace of change, the nature than twenty years. of community ownership – both of vision and • Because of this, building in an adaptable and process – and the acknowledgement and informed flexible manner, reassessing and reusing existing understanding of context. buildings wherever possible. In the best of the complex redevelopment • Building in a manner that fits the place, in terms schemes of the turn of the 21st century,there are of materials used, proportion and layouts and signs that some of these lessons have been learned. climate, ecology and building practices. It remains to be seen whether the public will • Building beautifully,in a manner that builds agree that an acceptable pace of change has been upon tradition, evolving it in response to present rediscovered. challenges and utilising present-day resources and techniques. REFERENCE • And finally,understanding the purpose of a 1975 Amery,Colin and Cruickshank, Dan . building or group of buildings within the The Rape of Britain. London: Paul Elek hierarchy of the buildings around it and responding with an appropriate building type and design. Doing this often implies

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composition of a harmonious whole, rather than methods of building are exploited not only for the the erection of singular objects of architectural beauty they create, but also for the environmental or corporate will. benefits they offer. Planners working in and near conservation We think that these principles should apply and heritage areas can do far worse than ensure whether building anew or adapting existing that new development works with rather than buildings, as sustainability is achieved by creating against the pattern of existing streets, blocks and buildings that people will both want to use, and plots, and architects should revisit traditional be able to use efficiently,a hundred years hence. typologies and the vernacular, adapting and I think that most Britons would agree that local evolving them in response to present needs. I was distinctiveness should flourish and traditional craft intrigued to read how Newham Council recently skills be re-discovered and incorporated in new declared a quite ordinary collection of old indus- buildings as well as old; that true and timeless trial buildings in Sugar House Lane, Stratford, as a

This sequence of maps shows how the character of the Roman, medieval,Victorian and 21st-century Lincoln has been consistently shaped by the river crossing that first brought people to the place more than 2000 years ago. © The Prince’s Foundation

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Conservation Area with the express purpose of managing change – in the very shadow of the Olympic site – for better place-making. The Prince’s Foundation believes in learning through practice, and so we undertake live urban design and master-planning projects to develop new tools and deliver exemplar solutions to Britain’s core development problems. By way of example, in 2005, we were asked to undertake an Enquiry by Design leading to a new Area Action Plan for the 2000-year-old city centre of Lincoln. Following the successful completion of that effort, we have remained involved to help guide urban regeneration in Lincoln, and have held two summer schools in architecture and building crafts in the grounds of Lincoln Cathedral. Lincoln’s core reason for being was its location at the crossing of the river at Brayford Pool, and its place athwart the great Roman route north – the Fosse Way – and Ermine Street. It draws its character from the relationship between the river and the hill.The Roman fort on the hill translated into the castle, marketplace and cathedral with high street below,giving shape to a remarkably stable street network based on the relationship between culture, government and commerce, which can be traced through almost two thousand years of Lincoln’s history.The river and the Brayford Pool, which brought people to the place originally,continued to define the shape of the city’s street pattern for almost as long. In his book How Buildings Learn:What Happens After They Are Built,American author Stewart Brand introduced the concept of pace layering, meaning that different parts of a building – or a city – change at different rates.When applied to civilisation, pace layering implies that certain deep structures, like the relationship between a city and nature, or the culture of a city,ought to change slowly,while other activities, like entertainment or retail, shift more quickly,and need to be accommodated in a flexible manner within these more permanent layers of the city.I have used Brand’s basic notion as a template for a legacy- based plan for Lincoln, and evolved it to the diagram shown at the top of the next column. When we looked at Lincoln during our workshops, we found that this was certainly the case, as the city centre had been altered dramati- cally in the past century and half for the sake of more transitory functions, such as retail trends or In 2005 The Prince’s Foundation was asked to undertake an Enquiry by Design leading commercial speculation.Transport interventions, to a new Area Action Plan for the 2000-year-old city centre of Lincoln. including an at-grade railway and elevated © Alan Baxter Associates for the The Prince’s Foundation

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The development of roadways, have cut off circulation between the Innovation, context and congruity a new masterplan city centre and supporting neighbourhoods. for the historic city Sir Richard MacCormac Recent building developments have further of Lincoln has MJP Architects involved recognising altered the basic structure of streets and pedestrian that different aspects movement, walling off the river, hampering We fear innovation in our built environment, and of a city need to be movement across the city and destroying we see it as opposed to what we value in our allowed to change at continuity with a rich building tradition.As all urban tradition.We need to understand why this different rates – of these interventions approach the end of their is and how this opposition might be overcome. some relatively quickly but others useful life, we have through our Enquiry by The foundation of our fear is real.We saw in only slowly. Design methodology identified opportunities to the 1960s and 1970s the destruction of town © The Prince’s Foundation create an enduring framework for the town centre centres by banal towers, slabs and ring roads that that enables it to adapt flexibly to change while usurped places for people.As the American critic respecting the legacy of this ancient city,and to Vincent Scully wrote: restore its basic circulatory system. First of all is the question of place, still only At the scale of the individual building, the partly our own and which, in some strange Foundation shares cause with conservation way,we tend to feel is threatened by us. . . . professionals in looking to both maintain and [W]e began to become aware that our enhance traditional building skills not just for modern architecture and urbanism were heritage settings, but also in order to apply them ruining it with enormous rapidity. as a core part of our ‘eco-vernacular’ approach to Redevelopment followed with what came to architecture. Clearly,natural materials do not be one social and urbanistic horror piled on require the high levels of industrial processing that another.The towers rise with no one in the have given us today’s palette of UPVC windows, streets.The cars circle endlessly on the free- plastic membranes, and their like.We have moved ways around the blank and glittering slabs. from the regular use of 500 building materials in 1919 to 500,000 today! Most of these have There are overwhelming global forces driving high-energy loads in their production, and their change in both town and country and it is impor- long-term implications are unknown. In a tant that we distinguish between those pressures project partnering with the Building Research and innovation in architecture. In our planning Establishment, we are demonstrating that a system they are the subjects of political and traditionally built home with solid-wall construc- economic negotiation in which the architect may tion can meet modern energy-performance have a role as interpreter but not as the initiator. standards, and will make an attractive proposition The problem is not a stylistic one – out-of-town for the average homebuyer. supermarkets have the same environmental impact At the same time we are promoting the whether their architecture is steel and glass or retention of heritage stock that can be upgraded dressed up as a barn.The difficulty for new to higher energy efficiency standards.The value of architecture is that it has come to symbolise a continuing and developing skills in lime-based kind of modernity by which we feel threatened, mortars and cements, clay,cob and thatch, tradi- one not of innovation but of corporate power. tional working of wood and stone, is recognised in Innovative architecture should be an expres- this context as being as important as the applica- sion of change and for that to be accepted it has tion of photovoltaics, wind turbines and the like. to be part of a cultural consensus, a vision of Craft skills are thus part of the Green debate. the future of the built environment in which The Venice Charter, adopted early in the Cold authentic new architecture is perceived as War period, has been interpreted to mean that compatible with the values of the historic past. we ought to express difference rather than conti- There is a convergence in our thinking that nuity when building in the historic environment. may be the way to reconcile innovation and After two or three cycles of experimentation conservation, and this lies in the recognition that with unproven theories of urban planning and the legacy we have inherited in our towns and design, perhaps it is time that we reconsider the cities is one of place-making, to which new outmoded ideas of the early 1960s, and look for architecture has an obligation. It is surely possible an approach that stresses continuity and evolution, to imagine extending the repertoire of place- accepting the best of the past and evolving making in the 21st century as in the 18th and 19th tradition to take on contemporary challenges. centuries the repertoire of streets and squares was

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extended to include gallerias, covered markets and exchanges. For this to be possible, however, we need a form of development control that is visionary, rather than reactionary and this is something of which we seem incapable because planning remains two-dimensional.The dissonance and incongruity that appears to characterise new architecture – in London’s Docklands,for example – is symptomatic of the lack of any co- ordinated idea of what the future should look like. Sir John Soane in his Royal Academy lectures referred to architecture as ‘the art of invention’ and in his use of light and spatial innovation anticipated qualities of modern architecture. What architecture inherited from modernism was an optimistic sense of the potential of invention. In the modern movement the fine arts also invited us to see things in new ways in unprecedented aesthetic experiences, and this gave confidence that change in constructional technologies, like steel and glass and concrete, could find new and exhilarating visual expression. Perhaps in a more fundamental and even spiritual sense it gave us a belief that through design we could not only accommodate new circumstances but also celebrate them.This is the essence of creativity and creativity in post-industrial society is our most valuable resource, something which architecture should vitally convey. There is a spectacular and ostentatious kind St John’s College, Oxford.This sensitive glass-box extension of the existing Grade I senior common room building shows how dialogues between new architecture and of innovation that is currently fashionable and has historic contexts can be successfully achieved. its theatrical purposes. But there is another kind © MJP Architects of innovation, characteristic of the best British architectural practice, which is rooted in the refinement of the aesthetics of constructional resonates with its setting. In Britain such dialogues technique and materials and in recognisable build- between new architecture and historic contexts ing types that can offer a dialogue with the past. have been successfully achieved, perhaps not Perhaps the most interesting potential for archi- surprisingly,in university cities such as Oxford tecture to overcome the polarity of this discussion and Cambridge, where the commitment to is the idea of new architecture as a form of history and to new ideas is a continuously shared historical interpretation that can create a kind of aspiration. reciprocity between old and new which intensifies Finally a project designed by my own practice, the significance of both.This is what Carlo Scarpa the redevelopment of Broadcasting House, achieved in the Castelvecchio Museum, creating a exemplifies the idea of historical interpretation circulation system through the medieval complex through innovative means.We saw the idea of that achieved a continuous aesthetic counterpoint, complementing the convexity of Broadcasting a conversation between new and old. Giancarlo House with an equivalent concavity that de Carlo achieved something similar in Urbino, terminates the axis of Regent Street.This also lies setting new buildings such as the underground directly behind the spire of Nash’s All Souls in amphitheatre into the historic fabric, recalling the Langham Place and was conceived as a kind of subterranean archaeology of a Roman citadel but urban cyclorama made of glass specially designed, appearing as a bright crescent of glass glinting in etched and printed so that at night low internal the hillside, a gesture of innovation which lighting levels darken the building and thus allow

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A model of the proposed redevelopment of Broadcasting House illustrating the translucency of the façade during the day and its transparency at night. © MJP Architects

the floodlit spire to stand out.The glass have no local commitment at all and are only cyclorama was an innovation dedicated to interested in the short term. Local authorities, an historical idea. particularly those in areas of deprivation or economic torpor, find it difficult to establish the political will to hold out for development that The new in harmony with the old offers locally attuned, high-quality design. So the job of the local authority and, where Dr Simon Thurley appropriate, of English Heritage is to ensure that Chief Executive, English Heritage the long-term consequences have been thought The issue of new buildings in old places lies at the through properly and that short-term economic heart of what English Heritage does. Over the last anxiety does not leave a long-term architectural ten years much less of our work has been about headache.At the heart of the issue is, of course, the threat of demolition of important buildings, value – starting with the value of the land.This is although of course, as at Smithfield, it is still often at the root of the problem of quality.If a sometimes threatened; instead, it is directed to developer spends over the odds on acquiring the assessing whether new work in or next to an old land he will either have to cram more on to the place is acceptable or not.This is of course about site to make his money or reduce the specification context. Is a new building contextual enough to to keep his margins up. So local authorities have a be acceptable in the proximity of a protected massive responsibility here.They own some of the building or area? most important development sites. If these are sold When English Heritage is statutorily required for too much money it will inevitably mean that to comment on this matter, two different issues the buildings proposed will be over-scaled and come into play.One draws together land value, of poor materials and design. the cost of development and the impact of There is a trade-off: the value of the site must short-term decision-making.The other is design. be very carefully calculated with an eye to the I will deal with cost and value first. desired quality and scale of the buildings.A very Many local authorities are in awe of, if not important thing to remember is that government thrall to, developers because it is developers who advice on the disposal of assets in historic town deliver regeneration and everyone, even Bath, centres gives the council discretion not to go for wants some of that. Developers are, quite rightly, the highest price. So these sites need not be sold at profit orientated.As a result, however, they often the market price; they can be sold with a brief and

Issue 59: Autumn 2008 | Conservation bulletin | 11 THE OLD AND THE NEW

On its completion in 1622 Inigo Jones’s banqueting house at Whitehall would have stuck out like a sore thumb. It was also one of the most important buildings ever constructed on English soil. © Magdalene College, Cambridge

at a price that absolutely guarantees a quality in a completely different style. In short it was a outcome. In our experience at English Heritage new building in an old place that stuck out like a it is impossible for councils to make large amounts sore thumb. It was also one of the most important of money in these developments while guarantee- buildings ever constructed on English soil. ing quality. What about Tower Bridge? A building that Councils can also determine the value of sites completely dominates the Tower of London in in private ownership and guard against sales that almost every view.You might say that they tried to are inflated.They can do this by setting clear, make it blend in stylistically,but did they? Where well-thought-out development briefs that make on the Tower of London are those steeply pitched it plain what will and will not be acceptable. roofs, where are the lancet windows and where is A good brief will limit the price paid for a site all that cast iron? and ensure that it is not over-developed. Of I could go on citing examples, from the Scott course, such briefs demand a high level of political memorial in Edinburgh to Clifton Suspension will and officer skill and that is not always there. Bridge in Bristol.These were new buildings in old places that were no respecters of scale, of materials, of style.They brutally imposed English Heritage sees it as a priority themselves on the existing historic streetscapes to develop a system that enables us to and bullied their way into our affections. So how objectively evaluate whether a new does a system for measuring the impact of a new building fits in with the old. building in an old place take account of this issue? Here we come to the crux of the problem. It is So one issue is economics, another issue is notoriously difficult to judge an aggressively style. English Heritage sees it as a priority to different new building: one that sets out to tear develop a system that enables us to objectively up the rules and start a new trend. English evaluate whether a new building fits in with the Heritage thought Norman Foster’s Swiss Re old.This needs to assess building materials, scale, building would be a noble addition to the roof profiles, window shapes, plot rhythms and London skyline.We thought Raphael Vinoly’s much more. It will never provide a definitive Fenchurch Street tower was a ghastly addition; answer as to whether a building fits comfortably the planning inspector disagreed with us. in an historic place but it should be able to trigger an alarm bell if the new building does not score These were new buildings in old places well enough next to its neighbours. Any such tool, however, must also allow for that were no respecters of scale, of the shock of the new,for the bold gesture. Inigo materials, of style. They brutally imposed Jones’s banqueting house at Whitehall would have themselves on the existing historic failed miserably any such test. It was much bigger streetscapes and bullied their way into than the rest of Whitehall palace, by at least two our affections. storeys, it was stone when the rest was brick; it was

12 | Conservation bulletin | Issue 59: Autumn 2008 CONTINUITY AND INNOVATION

I would suggest that there is a way through this. Our big cities are in fact different to our towns and villages. Cities have always been the places where architectural innovation has thrived. Manchester saw the invention of the Victorian warehouse, Birmingham modernist brutalism. Our cities must be allowed to be engines of architectural creativity.A different tool needs to be developed for dealing with these places. In London we have developed a methodology called qualitative views analysis (see Sarah Green’s article on pp 18–20) which aims to characterise a view in order to be able to make judgements about whether a new building inserted into it is a suitable or worthy addition or not. We need a parallel tool for the market towns and villages of England that will help councils keep the small-scale street pattern, materials and distinctive features of the place.That allows new Newark, building but only in as far as it subjugates itself to Nottinghamshire. the wider artistic and historic whole that is the By contrast to our town itself.This is where the big battles lie. Of big cities, the course our great cities are important and in no market towns and sense will English Heritage abandon them, but the villages of England delicate balance that makes Newark, Pontefract need a more subtle set of planning tools and Taunton beautiful is far more vulnerable that will help than the robustness of Sheffield or Newcastle, Our cities must be allowed to be engines of architectural councils keep the let alone London. Moreover, the skills that are creativity. English Heritage thought Norman Foster’s Swiss Re small-scale street likely to be found in the smaller towns are less building would be a noble addition to the London skyline. pattern and distinc- well-developed.The cities often have big planning © English Heritage tive features that make them such departments filled with well-qualified people. attractive places. And profit margins are higher and allow for more © English Heritage.NMR skilled (and costly) design teams. So my contribution to the debate is to draw out a distinction between the way London and the half-dozen great cities have developed and the sweep of market and cathedral towns.As well as developing the techniques that enable us to argue for the future of our cities – tools that are now rapidly maturing – we must urgently develop a different and more subtle set of tools that can help local councillors and officers judge more effectively and objectively the impact of new buildings in smaller historic places, and thereby preserve the unique qualities that make their towns and villages so attractive.

Issue 59: Autumn 2008 | Conservation bulletin | 13 New Understanding

If the new and the old are to co-exist harmoniously, we need first to understand the heritage values of that which is already there.

It is clear that every effort needs to be made to change in a way that sees the heritage values of establish a common language for the discussion places strengthened, rather than diminished. and analysis of change. English Heritage has a The distinction between old and new is, of number of relevant initiatives in hand. Steven Bee course, entirely artificial. Something is only new summarises progress to date on Conservation momentarily,and it immediately becomes old, and Principles, a comprehensive and widely consulted increasingly older. Our history and the buildings statement of the principles we will apply (and be that have accommodated it are divided into held to) in formulating expert advice. Humphrey diverse, convenient time periods in various ways. Welfare reports on continuing efforts to While some periods might appear starkly differ- formulate satisfactory definitions of setting – a ent, there is usually a connection, somewhere. word with a long pedigree, wide usage and no It is that sense of connection, and of continuity, agreed meaning. Readers will be afforded the that strikes a chord with people who experience opportunity to join that debate before it is historic places. Its elusiveness is one of the reasons concluded. Finally,Sarah Green describes how we find exploring and understanding old places the rough and tumble of development manage- so fascinating, and it is why historic places are so ment in London has led to the production of a highly valued by communities as part of their mechanism for a defensible assessment of the public good, whether or not they are publicly impact of major new schemes on London and owned.They are, at least in part, our common eventually,other cities. inheritance.

The distinction between old and new is, of English Heritage’s Conservation course, entirely artificial. Something is only Principles new momentarily, and it immediately Steven Bee becomes old, and increasingly older. Director of Planning and Development, English Heritage Now,this might explain why we value historic New work should aspire to a quality of design places, and why we should be careful about what and execution that may be valued both now and we do with them, but it does not really help us in the future.This neither implies nor precludes decide how we ought to manage change – what working in traditional or new ways, but new should be encouraged, what should be allowed, work should reflect an understanding of and and what should be prevented.This must be done respect for the significance of a place in its carefully and consistently if the credibility of setting. (Conservation Principles para 4.6.) England’s systems for managing the historic environment are to be maintained and reinforced. English Heritage has over recent years identified Conservation Principles proposes an approach and codified what it believes is the best – that is, based on the understanding of heritage values as the most appropriate – approach to the conserva- the basis for evaluating the historic significance of tion of the historic environment in all its aspects. a place.This is not new; it is what our experts do The synthesis of this work was published as all the time. It is the way English Heritage advises Conservation Principles, Policies and Guidance for the the government on what should be statutorily Sustainable Management of the Historic Environment protected, and the way we advise others about in May 2008. I am not going to explain this in how such places can be allowed to change detail, because this will be the theme for the next without compromising their historic significance. issue of Conservation Bulletin, to be published in The difference now is that we have a reliable, March 2009.The essence of our principles, comprehensive and consistent basis for making however, is an acceptance that change is an such judgements. English Heritage is committed essential component of our historic environment, to the mechanics of the approach set out in and we should not, indeed cannot, prevent Conservation Principles as a means of demonstrating change. Our responsibility is therefore to manage better the objectivity and consistency of our

14 | Conservation bulletin | Issue 59:Autumn 2008 NEW UNDERSTANDING

The recent public inquiry into the proposed demolition of London’s historic Smithfield Market is a good example of how English Heritage’s Conservation Principles can help make the case for protecting heritage assets and allowing them a new lease of life. Artist’s impression © English Heritage advice and the decisions we make. It is now our Not only is this approach not new,it is not policy to work in this way,and everyone can actually revolutionary either. Over the years that expect us to justify our advice and our decisions we have been refining its presentation, we have in the context of Conservation Principles and the consulted widely and repeatedly on the way we heritage-values-based approach it espouses. were thinking, and have received widespread They may also challenge us if we cannot. support for the approach.We cannot and would

Built in 1839 by Robert Stephenson, the Grade II*-listed Derby Roundhouse is a triumph of Victorian ingenuity.This important building could easily have been lost, but with English Heritage’s encouragement Derby College has decided to turn the former railway works into a new campus – an inspiring example of what we are now calling ‘constructive conservation’. Artist’s impression © maber

Issue 59: Autumn 2008 | Conservation bulletin | 15 THE OLD AND THE NEW

not wish to impose our policy on others, but we The protection of cherished places from do commend it as not only sound, but also, if irreversible harm is often an emotive issue. widely adopted, a reliable means of establishing an The heritage values set out in Conservation agreed baseline understanding of the historic Principles provide an objective basis for evaluating significance of places. Such agreement will help to the historic significance of a place, and identifying reduce the potential for differing judgements about precisely where it lies on the spectrum of whether or not proposed changes are appropriate. sensitivity to change. If they are used early in After extensive research, we identified four the development process, they can help identify primary heritage values – historic, aesthetic, how places can be adapted to meet new needs, communal and evidential – each with subdivisions standards or aspirations without undermining to allow more specific application.There is not that significance. If that does not happen, for space to go into these here, but we are confident whatever reason, they can be used to explain that they allow comprehensive capture of all the the severity of the harm that would be caused heritage values we might apply to a place. Having by inappropriate change, and prevent bad thus ensured a full understanding of a place, we decisions being implemented. can establish not only its overall historic signifi- cance, but also the relative significance of its components.The latter can be particularly helpful The setting of historic assets in identifying opportunities for adapting or Humphrey Welfare modifying places to accommodate new uses. Planning and Development Director (North), This use of the heritage values that people English Heritage ascribe to places is distinct from any ‘instrumental’ values they may have in relation to socio- The importance of providing some protection for economic, cultural or environmental interests, the ‘setting’of historic buildings and of archaeo- and also avoids the confusion that can sometimes logical sites (‘historic assets’) has been recognised be caused by reference to ‘intrinsic’ value. for quite some time but the meaning of the term The benefits of the heritage-values-based has not been closely defined. approach are already apparent. It is helping us to The concept of setting was specifically incor- present our advice more clearly and cogently. porated into the Planning (Listed Buildings and York: an example of This helps others to understand our position and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 and received detailed acceptable modern advice more easily,and strengthens our position attention in Policy Planning Guidance Notes 15 development in the 16 setting of the when we are challenged. Our performance at (Planning and the Historic Environment) and medieval church of public inquiries, for example, depends on the (Archaeology and Planning).These two Notes are St Helen, Davygate. objectivity of our evaluation of the degree of due to be replaced by a new Planning Policy © English Heritage harm to heritage assets. Our success at recent high-profile public inquiries like Smithfield Market (demolition of buildings in a conservation area) and Doon Street (tall residential tower intruding into historic views), in London, are good examples of how we can use Conservation Principles to make the case for protecting heritage assets. Just as importantly,they can also help us to decide whether our formal objection is justified, and whether our objection is likely to be sustained on appeal or call-in.

The heritage values set out in Conservation Principles provide an objective basis for evaluating the historic significance of a place, and identifying precisely where it lies on the spectrum of sensitivity to change.

16 | Conservation bulletin | Issue 59: Autumn 2008 NEW UNDERSTANDING

task in our new approach to the subject was to commission resesarch in order to understand more broadly how planning inspectors and secretaries of state had interpreted the concept in reaching their decisions. In parallel, in developing its Conservation Principles (published in 2008, after extensive consultation) English Heritage had to begin to tackle exactly what it meant by ‘setting’and a number of associated terms – in particular, the closely related concept of ‘context’.We were not the only ones to be puzzling over these definitions: a whole session was devoted to it at the annual conference of the Institute of Field Archaeologists in April 2007. In Conservation Principles,‘setting’ was seen as the relationship between an historic asset and its surroundings in the present and the past, including the way that the place is perceived, experienced and valued by people today.In parallel, the ‘context’ of an asset encompasses any relationship Goudhurst in the Statement that will continue to utilise the idea between a place and other places; this potentially high Weald of Kent, of setting. The concept is also contained within has many aspects and could be cultural, intellec- with its listed PPGs 2 (Green Belts) and 19 (Outdoor Advertisement tual, spatial or functional, and may be drawn medieval tithe barn, illustrates a strong Control), and is included within the Draft widely – for example, the links between all of the link between a Heritage Protection Bill. buildings designed by one architect.These wide surviving historic On the international stage, the Operational associations, however, are not seen to fall within farmstead and its Guidelines for the Implementation of the World the meaning of ‘setting’as established in statute setting.The ancient Heritage Convention (revised 2008: and guidance. Nevertheless, we believe that a wood-pasture land- http://whc.unesco.org/en/guidelines) concept of ‘local context’is relevant, encompass- scape surrounding the farm today recommend that a protective buffer zone should ing the physical, archaeological, historical, retains much of the be identified and established around each site, functional and design relationships that an asset character of the wherever this is necessary for the proper has with its immediate surroundings – whether or landscape in which conservation of the property.Such a buffer should not these relationships are readily perceptible – the historic farm take in the immediate setting of the site, as well and that this local context must be considered in buildings were originally as important views and other areas and attributes any assessment of setting. constructed. that are functionally important as a support to In seeking to understand setting, English © Janina Holubeki/High the property and its protection. Heritage has drafted some general principles: Weald AONB PPG 15 – the most useful source for the understanding of ‘setting’ – made it clear that the • All historic assets have a setting, irrespective concept should not be interpreted too narrowly of the form in which they survive. and indicated that it had to be assessed and under- • Setting makes an important contribution to, stood on a case-by-case basis.As an inevitable or can detract from, the significance of historic consequence, the day-to-day provision of assets and people’s ability to appreciate that casework advice by English Heritage has often significance. included a consideration of the importance of the • The extent of an asset’s setting will be defined setting of an historic building or of an archaeolog- by reference to the asset, its surroundings and its ical site when this may be affected by develop- context. It is not fixed and may change as an ment. Recourse has been routinely made to the asset and its surroundings evolve. guidance available within PPGs 15 and 16 but • The extent of an asset’s setting depends on a this has not always been enough to answer every range of relationships and perceptions: its great- question and ‘setting’has been a significant est extent is often defined by reference to visual element of a number of public inquiries. Despite influences but it may be further extended by this extensive but fragmented experience, an early consideration of the asset’s local context.

Issue 59: Autumn 2008 | Conservation bulletin | 17 THE OLD AND THE NEW

• Protecting the setting of historic assets need not process the impact of a new development upon inhibit change: change can enhance as well as the setting of a historic place can be significantly reduce significance and appreciation, or leave it reduced or avoided altogether.The setting may unaffected. even be enhanced by the change. • The extent to which change affects the signifi- cance and appreciation of an historic asset needs to be determined on a case-by-case basis, with Seeing the history in the view the response being proportionate to both the significance of the asset and the extent to Sarah Green which changes are detrimental. Regional Landscape Architect (London), English Heritage • As most places can be within the setting of an Certain views play an important part in shaping historic asset and are normally subject to change, our appreciation and understanding of England’s objections should normally be limited to those historic environment, in towns and cities and in changes, or processes of cumulative change, that the countryside. Some may have been designed will materially detract from the significance and to be seen as an impressive unity,like the view appreciation of important historic assets, of Greenwich Palace from the River Thames in whether designated or undesignated. London, or as symbolising a political philosophy, • Where the significance and appreciation of an such as the many facets of Stowe Park, asset have been compromised by inappropriate Buckinghamshire. More commonly a significant change within its setting, they may be restored view is a historical composite, the cumulative by reversing those changes. result of a long history,especially in towns and It follows that any setting must be fully assessed cities. In London the view upstream from the and understood before its contribution and Golden Jubilee footbridges, looking towards the sensitivity can be appreciated, and that new South Bank, the Houses of Parliament,Whitehall understanding may alter its definition: setting does and the Victoria Embankment, may be reckoned not have a fixed boundary.The various compo- as one such view (see illustration).The existence nents that make up an adequate understanding of views of both kinds, often containing well- are complex and must be approached with care. known and cherished landmarks and landscapes, Thus, although a particular setting may have been enriches our daily lives, attracts visitors and helps designed to complement an asset (for example, our communities prosper. a garden or park around a country house), else- Views that are historical composites may be where the evolution of a setting into its current under continual pressure to change, as they form may have been entirely fortuitous. Some probably include properties attached to different settings are relatively unchanged through time, landowners and various developments; such whereas others (especially townscapes) are charac- pressure after all is what presumably has made terised by their dynamism. In some instances, the these views. New buildings in the background, inter-visibility of assets is important for aesthetic, possibly at some distance, may detract from the functional, or religious reasons. (Directly appearance of things visible in front of them, and associated with this is the whole question of the new buildings in the foreground or at the sides significant views of, from, and within historic may intrude into and obstruct the view of things places – a constituent aspect of setting – a topic behind them. In the City of London care began upon which English Heritage consulted the to be taken to protect the visibility of St Paul’s opinions of others in 2008.) Cathedral as early as the 1930s, by limiting the All of these aspects need to be considered height to which buildings could be erected before an appropriate assessment can be made of around it, well before the arrival of a comprehen- the impact of change upon the setting of an asset. sive system of town and country planning in 1947. Other issues include the proximity,prominence Local building regulations, if not technology,have and scale of a development; the architectural tended to limit the general height and size of integrity of the place potentially affected; and the buildings in cities like London, where amid some likelihood of additional noise and movement.The contention such regulations were relaxed in the duration of a change, the implications of cumula- late 1950s. tive change, and even the effects of seasonality At the present time in London the policy may also have to be taken into account. If these framework for the protection of views is set out in things are addressed early enough in the design the London Plan, the Mayor of London’s Spatial

18 | Conservation bulletin | Issue 59: Autumn 2008 NEW UNDERSTANDING

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History in the view: Development Strategy.The London View guidance on analysing the historical significance looking upstream Management Framework (LVMF),supplementary of views and assessing the impact on them of from the Golden 2007 2008 Jubilee footbridges planning guidance adopted in July , employs proposed developments, and in published it to the Palace of the use of qualitative visual assessment and in draft form for consultation.This is still a work Westminster by day geometric definition as ways to assess and manage in progress and English Heritage will issue a (above) and night designated views in the capital. London is not revised version in due course.This guidance is not (below). alone in developing planning guidance on to be applied exclusively or in isolation – it is Westminster. tall-building and view-management strategies: meant to complement other methods of assessing © LUC and English Heritage many other local authorities, for instance Bristol the merits and effects of planning applications, and Oxford, are now incorporating such guidance whatever the scale of a proposed development. into their local development frameworks. A comprehensive approach to considering the As a statutory consultee on the historic impact of a proposal should consider the setting environment, English Heritage decided to of any heritage assets that may be affected, as well formulate guidance on the heritage aspects both as the part the development plays in the evolving of the views already identified in London’s urban fabric. For this reason recent guidance on strategic document and of other views in London tall buildings (English Heritage and CABE 2007) and elsewhere.This guidance was designed to recommends area studies.The new views guid- complement the LVMF by setting out a method ance is informed and underpinned by the philoso- for the clear analysis of what was of historic phy of English Heritage’s Conservation Principles significance in a view,and how the impact of (English Heritage 2008). Nor is the method the specific development proposals upon that guidance follows entirely new; it is intended to be significance should be judged.The aim was to entirely compatible with recognised professional bring clarity and consistency to this aspect of best practice in environmental impact assessment planning decisions and the development process. and in landscape and visual impact assessment, as Experience had shown the need for this on the expressed in, for instance, the Landscape Institute’s part of local authorities, planning applicants and guidelines for the latter (Landscape Institute consultants, and English Heritage itself. 2002).The guidance aims to systematise and English Heritage commissioned Land Use demystify the processes of appreciation and judge- Consultants in April 2007 to help develop this ment we may all engage in whenever we look at a

Issue 59: Autumn 2008 | Conservation bulletin | 19 THE OLD AND THE NEW

view,and particularly at the heritage assets visible in a view,and subsequently to assess the effect 6((,1* 7+( +,6725< ,1 7+( 9,(: of a possible development impinging on them. $ 0(7+2' )25 $66(66,1* +(5,7$*( The guidance aims to explain clearly the 6,*1,),&$1&( :,7+,1 9,(:6 approach that English Heritage will normally take in assessing the visual impact of various kinds of development proposals, not only tall buildings. Devising this has helped English Heritage staff themselves to a better understanding of the heritage value of certain views and their consistent assessment. Experience has shown that while everyone may agree that a development will have some effect on the historic environment, it is difficult to evaluate the degree of benefit or harm this may entail.Achieving consistency in this and ensuring that fair, balanced and reasoned assessments are made will be crucial to sound planning decisions. Our approach is to help all parties to evaluate impact based on a common understanding of essentials, and reducing the scope for unnecessary differences of judgement. '5$)7 )25 &2168/7$7,21 It is not about imposing or dictating a particular judgement, for planning decisions are the respon- $SULO sibility of the local planning authority and public authorities.This is helping us determine more objectively when we will intervene in the plan- ning process, and enable us to be more selective. our first worked examples have been in London The present draft recommends a two-part and the method is illustrated in the draft guidance process. First, a baseline analysis identifies the by the view of the Tower of London from the historic assets in a view,especially designated Queen’s Walk in front of City Hall in London, assets such as statutorily listed buildings, ancient we are now undertaking further test-cases around monuments, conservation areas, registered parks England, for the guidance is designed to be and gardens, registered battlefields, world heritage nationally applicable. sites, locally listed buildings, and so on.This analy- sis aims to state, for each asset or combinations of For more information, visit asset, which aspects of historic significance can www.english-heritage.org.uk/historyinviews. be appreciated in this view,the overall heritage value of the view and how the heritage signifi- REFERENCES 2002 cance of this view can be sustained. Secondly,the Landscape Institute . Guidelines for Landscape and Visual Impact (2nd edn). London: Landscape Institute guidance assesses the likely impact of a specific and Institute of Environmental Management and development proposal on what has been identified Assessment as being of historic significance in the view.Views English Heritage 2008. Conservation Principles: Policies are to be considered dynamically,as the viewer and Guidance for the Sustainable Management of the crosses a bridge for example, and by day and Historic Environment. London: English Heritage 2007. night and at different seasons of the year, the last English Heritage and CABE Guidance on Tall Buildings. London: English Heritage and Commission implying different vegetation cover. for Architecture and the Built Environment London, ever in the economic forefront, with Greater London Authority 2007. London View continual pressure to build and rebuild, yet with a Management Framework:The London Plan Supplementary high concentration of historic buildings and sites, Planning Guidance. London: Greater London Authority was where the fate of some well-known views was being felt very acutely and urgently.New developments here include several very tall buildings that would be visible over a wide area, and could affect well-known landmarks.Although

20 | Conservation bulletin | Issue 59: Autumn 2008 The Curator’s Story

Visitors to historic properties demand modern facilities – but where should they be put and how should they look?

All developers are intimately concerned with increased sharply over that period.‘New-build’ the impact that their development will have on or modern additions have included operational its context. Even when resulting structures are elements needed to facilitate visitor access, such ones that the historic-environment sector regrets, as paths, bridges, walk-ways, railings and ramps, as the impact will have been chosen by someone. well as more substantial additions such as visitors’ The two articles that follow show that deciding centres, which contain the tea rooms, shops, what impact is acceptable is not made immedi- exhibitions spaces and lavatories, and which ately straightforward simply because those taking have become such an intrinsic part of the visitor the decisions are responsible for the well-being experience over recent years. It is the visitors’ of historically important places.Tim Reeve and centres that will be dealt with here, particularly Jeremy Ashbee describe how English Heritage’s in light of the significant investment that English current position on new build on its sites has Heritage has made in visitor infrastructure during developed from the Ministry of Works days, the last five years. when the primacy of the ruin on its sward was Much has changed in terms of approach to unquestioned, to a more subtle, nuanced and new buildings since 1900.A presumption against responsive approach today.Sarah Staniforth relates any structural additions to properties during the how a similar earlier phase in the National Trust’s Ministry of Works’stewardship led to a philosophy on-site provision has led to changing practice now during much of the 20th century to identify informed by principles developed in association clearly any modern additions, with the 1960s and with the Prince’s Foundation (see also Hank 1970s showing the clearest delineation between Dittmar pp 6–9). modern intervention and historic fabric.Although the approach to new ticket offices, for example, may have provided absolute clarity between old New English Heritage buildings in and new,the materials and design approach historic places employed were undeniably of their time and have dated quickly. Tim Reeve While the Ministry of Works’approach Properties Director, English Heritage to overall presentation has unravelled from a Jeremy Ashbee single-phase and manicured philosophy to broader Head Property Curator, English Heritage definitions of significance, so the approach to English Heritage manages more than 400 historic modern interventions has become more sensitive properties on behalf of the nation.These to visitor needs and general understanding of a represent a unique collection of structures property’s development. covering a span of English history running from An approach to new buildings at English the prehistoric to the Cold War. One of the key Heritage properties does not now fall easily into duties of English Heritage, as set out in the ‘modernist’ or ‘historicist’ categories, but rather National Heritage Act of 1983, is ‘to promote the seeks to achieve consistency in terms of presenta- public’s enjoyment of … ancient monuments tion standards and quality of design and materials, and historic buildings’, a duty which is in large while respecting the individual characteristics of part fulfilled through providing public access each site. In this sense there are no rules or rigid to the properties in its care, which are in this policy to follow,but some underlying principles context ‘visitor attractions’as well as nationally have guided us in recent years. New buildings significant monuments to be preserved for should not compete with the monument itself future generations. (which is after all what visitors are coming to see), The majority of properties that make up and architectural creativity and good design should the historic estate have been in the care of a state be encouraged.There is a preference for designs body for 100 years or so, and it is clear that that will not quickly become architecturally the desire to promote access, and indeed the outmoded, and that make reference to predecessor expectations of visitors as ‘customers’, has buildings and materials related to the sites in

Issue 59: Autumn 2008 | Conservation bulletin | 21 THE OLD AND THE NEW

question.This approach has produced, at Kenilworth Castle and Carisbrooke Castle, new buildings that are modern (and clearly so). However, at Carisbrooke in particular, the new admissions building has clearly derived its design, in its form and materials, from buildings which preceded it; the building at Kenilworth was built on a virgin site, but its louvred roof is inspired by the medieval kitchens at Windsor Castle, an appropriate model. Both buildings look comfort- able and appropriate to the setting, and neither could be said to compete for attention with the monument itself. The building at Carisbrooke Castle was constructed to provide a much more welcoming environment for visitors at the entrance to the property,as well as freeing up a key roofed space Carisbrooke Castle, Isle of Wight.Although constructed in a modern idiom, the within the site for a new introductory film and new admissions building clearly owes its form and materials from buildings which orientation displays.The images show the building preceded it. © Dannatt Johnson Architects (completed in April 2008) within the ramparts and in very close proximity to the gatehouse. standardised design might risk accusation that The area is therefore extremely sensitive, and each property in which they are placed is not would possibly not have been considered at all being treated on its merits. Nonetheless, English had there not been a building standing in that Heritage has taken the view that the improve- precise location, known from early 20th-century ments in design quality,materials and to the plans and photographs. Dannatt Johnson overall setting of the monuments are sufficient Architects responded to the brief with two initial design concepts – one overtly modern and one leaning more heavily on the approach described above. English Heritage as client took the view that the latter concept would deliver a higher- quality building, one which would sit much more comfortably in its immediate surroundings, and crucially would look as comfortable in 50 years’ time as it does today. The building is clearly not a literal copy of the earlier structure, since such an approach is rarely convincing and in any case it would not fulfil modern operational requirements, designed as it was for a different purpose.The 19th-century cottage of a gamekeeper would never be ideal for the needs of 21st-century visitors. If the building at Carisbrooke had survived we may have tried to retain it (with some permitted adaptations), but it would have been foolhardy to reproduce its operational inconveniences in a new structure. At many other sites over the last few years a similar approach has been adopted in replacing a number of 1970s’ buildings that have looked increasingly incongruous with the passing of the decades as well as having reached the end of their Battle Abbey, East Sussex.The new exhibition centre and café completed at Battle useful life in most cases.The new buildings are to Abbey in 2007 is an obviously modern steel-frame structure with glazed panels that a uniform style (timber-framed with shingle or makes few historical connections with the property it serves. tiled roofs and able to be prefabricated).Their © Dannatt Johnson Architects

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record what visitor facilities were in place around the turn of the 19th century.There is nothing to indicate that they were offered tea or cake, a souvenir to purchase, nor even the most basic of toilet facilities, although it is reasonable to assume that there was somewhere to park their carriages! In the early days of visiting National Trust properties, there were few facilities for visitors. Perhaps a small car park, a lavatory,and a small room within the house where cups of tea were served and guidebooks sold.This was enough for the low number of visitors.The membership of the National Trust has grown exponentially: 100 members in 1895; 7,850 fifty years later; 2.5 million by the centenary year; 3.5 million in 2007.This increase in membership is reflected in visitor numbers to the pay-for-entry properties: 10.4 million in 1997, 14 million in 2007. Philip Jebb’s original justification.The new model for the site As visitor numbers grew,small tea rooms in (1972) modernist admissions building has provided a fast, pragmatic houses ceased to be adequate, as they became visitor centre at and affordable solution to a longstanding and Chartwell was over-crowded and increased the risk of fire and informed by the increasingly urgent problem. other environmental hazards in fragile historic current Venice The approach to designing new buildings is buildings. Other buildings on estates such as Charter principles not a policy set in stone; for example, the new stables and domestic blocks were therefore that the new and building completed at Battle Abbey in 2007 is converted to house reception facilities, lavatories, the old should be an obviously modern steel-frame structure the café and shop. clearly distinguished with glazed panels, a long way from the weather- and that additions In some properties there were no suitable should not detract boarded ‘historicist’ design at Kenilworth. But exterior buildings within walking distance of the from existing both are arguably responsive to the needs of their house and garden, and it was necessary to create buildings and their particular settings and their operational require- new buildings to house the facilities.The design settings. ments, and both are designs of high quality. and location of new visitor buildings in the early © NTPL The direction of new build at English Heritage 1970s was informed by the conservation thinking properties could be summed up as flexibility in of the time, including the Venice Charter.The two treating each site on its merits, and recognition most influential principles were that it should be that new design in these important places possible to distinguish between what is new and inevitably becomes part of a long-running what is old and that additions should not detract tradition. from existing buildings and their settings.This is reflected in the modernism of some buildings, so that their design is distinct from the historic Building for tomorrow’s visitors buildings at the properties, and the location of new buildings well away from the significant Sarah Staniforth heart of properties.The tea room and lavatories at Historic Properties Director,The National Trust Anglesey Abbey,designed by Inskip and Jenkins in There is a long tradition of country house 1975, and the original low-cost flat-roofed timber visiting, recorded, for example, by Jane Austen in building designed by Philip Jebb in 1972 at Pride and Prejudice (1813), when Elizabeth Bennett Chartwell, both at some distance from the houses visited Pemberley with Mr and Mrs Gardiner. and gardens, clearly demonstrate these principles. They were taken round the house by the The building of the visitor centre at Fountains housekeeper, Mrs Reynolds.At the National Trust Abbey was a watershed.This is located outside the we have accounts from a number of visitors to World Heritage Site, and was designed in 1992 Kedleston about Mrs Garnett, housekeeper from by Ted Cullinan.The building is a large complex 1766 to 1809.The earliest of these is from Samuel housing all functions: reception, restaurant, Johnson and James Boswell who visited in 1794. exhibition, shop and meeting/conference room, Neither Jane Austen nor Johnson and Boswell all under one roof and designed as a single

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Positioned outside the World Heritage Site and designed in 1992 by Ted Cullinan,the Fountains Abbey visitor centre is large and complex – reception, restaurant, exhibition, shop and meeting/conference room are all housed under one roof and designed with the same architectural character throughout. © NTPL/Matthew Antrobus concept with the same architectural character property; they should be able to cope with busy, throughout. but not the busiest days; they should not dominate In the mid-1990s the National Trust or overwhelm the property.The siting of facilities Architectural and Gardens Panels and Executive should minimise any adverse visual impact from Committee debated whether visitor centres near and far.Where possible they should be were becoming too large, too expensive and outside the pay barrier to provide free access even attractions in their own right.Among other for visitors to at least parts of a property.The things, these discussions led to some general visitor route should not be through the shop or principles being set down including the restaurant, which should be located where they importance of ensuring that visitor facilities are visible but not obtrusive.As visitor needs should recognise and respect the individual and numbers may change over time, it may not character of each property – its ‘spirit of place’ – be appropriate to design a high degree of as distilled in the statement of significance. permanence into the facilities; the design should The purpose of visitor facilities was on the be flexible to enable adaptation. Design life needs one hand to be practical and on the other to make to take into account the balance between initial a positive contribution to visitors’ enjoyment, capital cost and maintenance costs. understanding and appreciation of the property At Sizergh Castle, Cumbria, exhaustive and of the National Trust, and so in turn to attempts were made to find a suitable location for engage their support for the Trust’s work. new facilities that would improve the quality of Environmental principles should be integrated the visit for an increasing number of visitors but into all proposals for replacement, new or not compromise the significance of the medieval expanded facilities. castle and buildings.These included using the Building principles were also developed at this south wing (which was too small); the 1770s time.The scale of visitor facilities should be stable block (which had been converted to staff appropriate for the sustainable capacity of the accommodation in the 1920s); the Grade II*

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materials should be recyclable and the whole design should minimise the environmental footprint of the building through the use of insulated walls, underfloor heating and a gas condensing boiler. The building by Feilden Clegg Bradley and with landscape design by Kim Wilkie was opened to the public in 2006. It is clad with larch from trees grown on the Trust’s land at Tarn Hows. Planning permission was initially refused in 2003 on the grounds that any new building in the Lake District should be constructed of stone and slate, but granted on appeal on the grounds that the limited supplies of local stone should be used for conservation repairs and not new build. Current visitor facilities are required to meet The Footprint building at St Catherine’s,Windermere, sits organically in the landscape the more exacting targets of the new National and has been constructed from straw bales.The project was seen as an opportunity Trust strategy for reducing our environmental for public involvement from the outset, and numerous volunteers helped with the footprint.There is also a preference for the use of building. © Sarah Staniforth, National Trust existing buildings where this is appropriate: where they are in the right place, where the change of Great Barn (which was the earliest known bank use would not adversely affect their character, or barn, built in the 1560s); erecting a new building where they are not too small or expensive to on the site of existing garages facing the stable convert or maintain. Current projects include the block, or siting a new building outside the stable conversion of the stable blocks at Polesden Lacey courtyard in the car park.The brief was for a and Nostell Priory and the Home Farm at building that would be: simple, lightweight, Tyntesfield. low-key,single-storey,self-effacing, of modular The Architectural Panel has been working linear design, extendable at one end and with a with the Princes Foundation for the Built life span of 30–40 years. It was to be constructed Environmental on architectural design principles, of modern materials, have regard for environmen- which address not only significance, spirit of tal sustainability and be related in character to place and environmental performance, but will contemporary agricultural buildings.The building also tackle the more difficult areas of aesthetics, hierarchy of buildings, and flexibility.Early thoughts include the following principles: • build sustainably • build flexibly and adaptably • build in a way that respects spirit of place • build beautifully • respect hierarchy of buildings • encourage traditional craft-building skills. The National Trust believes that these principles will not only help to inform the philosophy and design of its new buildings, but also the choosing of architects who will embrace and work with us to realise the goals articulated in them.

This article is based on a presentation given at a seminar ‘New Buildings in Old Places’organised by the Princes Foundation for the Built Environment At Sizergh Castle in Cumbria the need to house new visitor facilities away from the 2008 medieval castle and buildings led to the commissioning of a low-key modular building. and Princes Regeneration Trust in January . With a lifespan of 30–40 years, it was to be constructed of modern but environmentally sustainable materials and related in character to contemporary agricultural buildings. © Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios.

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Fitting the unfamiliar new into the setting of the familiar old can be hard work. But it can also yield spectacular and exhilarating results.

We relate to the new in very complex ways. of modern places are set out in Emily Gee’s Roger Bowdler here assesses the typical arc of accompanying piece (p 28), and in some of the esteem in which buildings are held and the harsh case studies that follow this article. Designation is spotlight some choose to train on English never recommended to the DCMS lightly,or Heritage’s judgement about the relatively new. whimsically.Restricting private property rights in Emily Gee shows by example how complex the the interest of higher public interest is justifiable if issues typically are and how thoughtful English the heritage values are considerable enough, but Heritage must always, therefore, be seen to be. we need to establish such propositions, not merely John Allan casts light on Robin Hood Gardens, advance them as a possibility.We have not merely a case that has caught the full attention of the to identify and describe, but to place in context press. Paddy Pugh’s account of the (widely and articulate the importance of often little- acknowledged) success at St Pancras is the more understood and initially little-liked buildings. remarkable for the long period in which the Our post-Second World War heritage is as building was held in such low esteem. Les irreplaceable as any other. Its seeming ubiquity is, Sparks on Birmingham Bull Ring and Davinder however, deceptive: buildings, places and spaces Bansal on the Rotunda emphasise that careful of enduring and demonstrable note are few.In judgements as to designation and properly flexible international terms, Britain (Historic Scotland has management after designation can play a success- been very active in this area too) has been in the ful part in the revitalisation of a city.And Mick vanguard of designating modernity.More remains The Tricorn Centre, Henry reminds us that even the most spectacularly to be done – this is a clear designation priority. Portsmouth, an and rapidly admired new object can have had a The modern environment is frequently a example of a very uncertain and contentious genesis. Like the disputed one. Post-war designation absorbs a controversial post- Old Severn Bridge (1965) the Angel of the North singular amount of corporate energy.Few other war building that it may one day be a designated historic asset.The areas of heritage endeavour reach the floor of the was decided did not once-new,whether the Angel, the Rotunda or House of Commons, or the MP’s in-tray,with merit designation and that has since St Pancras, will have found their way into our such regularity.Westminster’s Pimlico School, been demolished. hearts (and their statutory equivalent). Society Plymouth Civic Centre, Huddersfield’s James Davies will move on, once again, to turn its sceptical Queensgate Market, Sheffield’s Park Hill Estate, © English Heritage gaze on the newly new.

Post-war designation: waiting for the dust to settle? Roger Bowdler Head of Designation, English Heritage Few parts of the environment are as vulnerable as the fairly recent.Too old for fashion, too young for heritage. Few people would now argue with the correctness of protecting the best and most representative buildings and places from the past. But just when does the past begin? Age and time bestow a comforting remoteness, an otherness that enriches the claims to retention, respect and affection. Modernity is not the same. How do we navigate our way through the disputed regions, when the chart of history has yet to be drawn? Some of the challenges that attend designation

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Portsmouth’s Tricorn Centre, East London’s How do we assess those buildings that have Robin Hood Gardens estate, the Birmingham yet to enter the canon? Like many forms of Central Library: these are but the most recent creation, the fairly recent building often under- controversies. Some have been listed; others goes a dip in critical reception before its more were not recommended.And some, like Rodney lasting claims have emerged.Today’s favourite Gordon’s Tricorn Centre of 1962–6, have now becomes tomorrow’s has-been,before it gains the been demolished. Designation plays a critical initial status of ‘period piece’ on its progress to role in determining the very existence of such becoming a historic structure. It is the difference structures. between journalism, and critical assessment. Decisions about significance will not wait Contexts emerge; distance makes objectivity until the owl of Minerva has flown, and the dust possible; fame, personality and circumstance of time has settled.We need to reach defensible, recede as determinant factors. just, and enduring recommendations in advance English Heritage has itself challenged the of this calmer time. In most other countries, the notion that we can only deal with an objective, heritage cut-off point is firmly established. established heritage: that for issues of the recent History begins at 50. Buildings started 50 years past, a dynamic approach is required (Penrose ago or more can be considered in the usual way in 2007, 9).When it comes to designation, for the most countries; the Netherlands is the most recent reasons set out already,this fluid plurality is less country to embark on a post-war designation appropriate. It is a strength, not a weakness, that programme. Only exceptionally,as in the USA, a body like ours can promote parallel agendas. will younger structures be considered for register- Different roles require different inputs, however, ing. In England, ever since 1987, we have operated and the demands of designation call for under a 30-year rule.And for buildings of more judgement, consistency and understanding. Worthing’s ‘Desert than special interest (that is, listable in Grade II* Understanding informs every step of Quartet’ set of or Grade I), which are also under a real and severe designation activity.What information can we sculpted busts by threat, with a start date of ten years ago or more, bring to bear? Analyses of contemporary and Elisabeth Frink was listing can be considered.Thus, were the critical literature; reviewing the relevant designa- listed Grade II* in 2007 on the Millennium Dome in Greenwich to be facing tions for benchmarks; applying the published grounds of its demolition, it could now be assessed for designa- criteria for designation selection; looking very enrichment the tion. Right now,the potential listing of Richard hard, and carefully; preparing balanced reports, streetscape of one Rogers’ Lloyds Building in the City of London which now receive unprecedented levels of senior of Southern has emerged as an issue. One can spot the scrutiny.These are the processes we go through in England’s leading seaside resorts. ‘stinkers’ (as we sometimes call them) approaching preparing our recommendations, and we strive © Roger Bowdler, us like meteorites. Some cases have an impact: constantly to improve the application of research English Heritage others break up on approach. to ever more high-profile cases. How does Robin Hood Gardens (see pp 30–1) compare with other already-listed public housing developments? What does the critical literature say (if anything)? Intellectual rigour is one pre-requisite for analysing the fairly recent.Another is an open mind. Post-war listing, from its outset, was deter- mined not to follow a pre-determined modernist agenda. It sought to identify traditional, as well as innovative, buildings of special interest and to cover the conceptual and stylistic spectrum in its range of recommendations (Harwood 2003).And nor is it just a question of identifying the works of major practices, and the ones which won awards or prompted column inches.We are preparing new systems of endorsement in our process, which help us get ready for the anticipated trans- fer of designation decision-making from DCMS to English Heritage, one of the most significant outcomes of Heritage Protection Reform.

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To end with a recent case.Worthing’s ‘Desert Our public profile (and our professional Quartet’ set of sculpted busts by Elisabeth Frink stoicism) has been tested by two recent cases in was listed Grade II* in 2007. Commissioned particular: Plymouth Civic Centre and Robin in 1985 and installed in 1989 as part of an above- Hood Gardens (for more on this building see average retail development in the heart of the John Allen’s article, pp 30–1).The Civic Centre, Georgian resort, this exceptionally good incident designed by Jellicoe, Ballantyne and Coleridge in of public art faced removal and sale.When 1958–62, is the embodiment of the aspirations of a assessing the sculptures for listing we had to ask newly confident post-war Plymouth.The building ourselves a question of predictive esteem.Will is remarkable for its careful massing and landmark Elisabeth Frink’s critical reputation remain high position, as well as its striking art-work, including enough to justify designation? Our conclusion engraved glass by John Hutton depicting a was affirmative: Frink is clearly an artist of endur- heroic maritime Plymouth. It also stands within a ing note, and this was a significant commission. registered landscape and beyond that, a very good Sensitive to its place and characteristic of Frink’s post-war architectural context that warrants our humane monumentality,the ‘Desert Quartet’ attention: it is home to the only listed post-war continues to enrich the streetscape of one of bank, for example.We are now looking at other Southern England’s leading seaside resorts. contemporary buildings as well. Sometimes we act before the dust of time The Civic Centre was listed in June 2007, has settled: but we always act with care. an obvious recommendation to champions of 20th-century architecture, but its designation was REFERENCES much to the chagrin of Plymouth City Council, Plymouth’s Civic 2007 Penrose, S with contributors, . Images of Change. which considers its maintenance to be a major Centre, designed by An Archaeology of England’s Contemporary Landscape. Jellicoe, Ballantyne London: English Heritage problem.The post-designation alarm of the and Coleridge in Harwood, E 2003. England:A Guide to Post-War Listed council resulted in some eyebrow-raising press, 1958–62, embodies Buildings (2nd edn). London: Batsford even though we had undertaken a cool and the aspirations of a informed assessment and had liaised with the newly confident council during our consideration of the case. post-war Plymouth. While welcomed by Post-war designation: some recent Building on the experience of Plymouth we champions of 20th- cases studies now make regular use of the English Heritage century architecture, website to explain and illustrate our position on its listing in June Emily Gee complicated designation cases. In the case of the 2007 was a concern Team Leader (South), Heritage Protection Department, Robin Hood Gardens estate, for example, our to Plymouth City English Heritage communications colleagues have designed an Council who consider its A handful of recent and high-profile listing cases informative web page, complete with innovative maintenance to be a has caught the public imagination and attention approaches such as a narrated video presentation major problem. of the press. It is not surprising that people are (www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/ © English Heritage interested in the fate of prominent public ConWebDoc.11365). buildings: when the architectural community,or a major council, takes a vested and vocal interest in a building, it is no wonder that many eyes turn to us and our advice to the DCMS. We are well placed to respond: ten years of the post-war thematic listing programme (1992–2002), which pioneered public consultation as well as ways of communicating special interest, have set the context and identified the leading exemplars. Now,our attention is drawn to more recent buildings as well as those that are less renowned but still of interest.Armed with our Principles of Selection and meticulous in-house research, it is essential that we remain measured and informed as we take on each case, aware of external views but not swayed by emotion, fashion or campaign.

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Ossulston estate near St Pancras. Our obligation to be highly selective with buildings of this date meant that despite some claims to interest, we did not recommend listing.Whereas a number of significant and early London County Council housing estates, such as the point blocks (ie tower blocks) at Roehampton, had already been captured on the statutory list on the basis of a contextual understanding of the importance of their striking designs, the special interest of the Woodberry Down estate is reflected in the designation of its early school and pioneering health centre. As the bar of the ‘30-year rule’ for listing buildings rolls ever forward we are inevitably assessing new building types. Milton Keynes and its environs present a useful illustration.The Although the This work also recalls our impressive track centrepiece of the seminal new town planned post-war housing record of post-war listing: there are 24 listed between 1968 and 1972 is the shopping centre, a blocks on the public housing estates in this country (13 in the thoughtful reaction against the American-inspired Woodberry Down capital), which is more than in any other country. Arndale Centre shopping malls then being erected estate in Hackney 1972 3 were not deemed While sometimes criticised in very public ways, around the country.Designed in – by Stuart worthy of designa- we take courage from the often-silent majority Mosscrop and Christopher Woodward, it is a tion, English Heritage that respects our reasonableness of judgement. sharply detailed and skilfully planned building also recommended the Sometimes the pressure on us to be absolutely incorporating a number of art-works.Thereafter estate’s pioneering sure of our ground is made even more intense by an omnipresent building type not known for its 1952 modernist health centre for the surrounding circumstances. For example, in architectural quality,the shopping centre at Grade II listing. 2006 we were asked to consider the key elements Milton Keynes is an exception and its assessment, © English Heritage of one of the first post-war housing estates in the recently precipitated by a listing request, will help country – the Woodberry Down estate in the set a benchmark against which later examples can London Borough of Hackney – in the face of be judged.The case remains open at the time of a £10-million regeneration scheme supported publication, but it is no secret that we have in the by the Mayor of London.At Woodberry Down, the birth of the National Health Service was illustrated in the essay in Swedish modernism that housed the country’s first comprehensive health centre (opened 1952).The historic interest of this primacy enriched a well-surviving and architec- turally interesting building and we recommended it for listing at Grade II. Similarly,the estate’s The centrepiece of primary school was the first of the type built the seminal new in London after the war, complete with mural town of Milton and modernist detail; again we recommended Keynes was its Grade II listing. shopping centre – a But faced with the assessment of the four skilfully planned building incorporat- housing blocks overlooking the reservoir in ing a number of a continental ‘zeinlenbau’arrangement – art-works in a eight-storey narrow slab profiles with distinctive thoughtful reaction Viennese detailing – the recommendation was against the dully less straightforward.While striking and bold from uniform shopping some angles, the slabs were severe and fairly centres that were being erected at mean in the way they faced the communal space the time. between.They lack the spirit of the pre-war and © English Heritage similarly continental housing on the listed

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past recommended listing this building at a the original modernist masters, but felt compelled higher grade. to challenge them. On the one hand Le An even newer building type was the nearby Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe et al were Bletchley Leisure Centre opened in 1973 to the venerated as heroic intellectual and architectural designs of Faulkner Brown architects. Marked by pioneers, on the other they were to be subjected its funky brown-glass reinforced-plastic pyramid to intense critical evaluation in the search for new roof over the palm-treed leisure pool, this is very directions. Many observers regard the Smithsons’ much a building of its time. Much altered, and polemic as more important than their actual unsuccessful in terms of its users (as illustrated buildings. Specifically,their mission to supersede by the new leisure centre now under construction the precepts of La Ville radieuse, with its progeny next door), we have not recommended it for of bleak estates and rectangular flatted blocks, led listing, while acknowledging that more work is them to explore the (Corbusian) idea of ‘streets needed on leisure buildings of the later 20th in the air’ as an alternative urban morphology. century.The strategic designation programme They mounted a similarly strong challenge to supported by the draft Heritage Protection Bill their immediate English peers.The Festival of is the perfect opportunity to do just that. Britain, with its vision of a new social democratic, rather Swedish-looking Britain, may be seen in retrospect to have been the closest-ever rapproche- Robin Hood Gardens, Poplar,London ment of modern architecture with the British public – the happy honeymoon before a loveless John Allan marriage. But this was rejected as cosy and Chairman and Director of Avanti Architects compromised by the Smithsons, who promoted The author has a deep understanding of the the rugged material and intellectual tenets of development of modernist architecture in Britain and Brutalism. considerable direct experience of successful restoration The Smithsons’ career was highly unusual. and re-use of buildings of the period. He is a member Early success in the competition for Hunstanton of English Heritage’s London Advisory Committee School, Norfolk, was followed by a string of and offered that committee his personal thoughts on the competition failures – Coventry Cathedral Park Hill Sheffield, contentious question of whether Robin Hood Gardens (1950–1), Golden Lane Housing (1952), Sheffield one of the great should be listed.There follows a précis of that thoughtful University (1953) Sydney Opera House (1956) – achievements of and insightful note. for which they were, however, compensated by post-war modernist enduring critical acclaim.Virtually every housing that fully deserved its Robin Hood Gardens comprises two large blocks published history of post-war British architecture Grade II* listing. of residential accommodation erected in the features the Smithsons’ competition schemes for © C E Brown (English mid-1960s.Arranged on seven and ten storeys Golden Lane and Sheffield University with pages Heritage.NMR) with deck access, the scheme is an embodiment of the controversial style known as Brutalism. The listing of large post-Second World War housing projects is always difficult but never more so than when publicity has generated a furore. When the subject is a site with high-profile designers and redevelopment is an imminent possibility,it is bound to become a hot issue. But listing criteria are not dependent upon perceived threat, condition, degree of popularity or the renown of the designers, all issues which lobbyists have brought to the fore in this case.The question of listing turns on the concept of ‘special interest’. Before considering whether Robin Hood Gardens has special architectural or historic inter- est, it is useful to relate something of the design- ers’ background and context. Peter and Alison Smithson belonged to a generation which acknowledged the influence of

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In this light, it is difficult to argue that Robin Hood Gardens is either seminal or of special architectural interest.The buildings follow Park Hill without equalling that achievement.The design’s key idea offers no new insight into successful decks as, for example, the rightly listed contemporaneous Lillington Gardens does. Nor do the dwelling plans provide a model that was either innovative or influential.The case for historic interest is also lost precisely because the project came so late in this phase of modernist architecture in Britain, without however representing a glorious culmination. It is for all these reasons that despite the powerful and poignant story that this estate undoubtedly has to tell us I am disinclined to regard it as of ‘special interest’ in the sense demanded by listing criteria. None of this leads to the conclusion that the Robin Hood of approbatory coverage while not even mention- buildings should be demolished. I have little doubt Gardens, Poplar. ing or illustrating the projects that actually won that this estate could and should be rehabilitated While not of these competitions and were built. It is as though with handsome results, but this is a different issue sufficient architectural or historic interest to they achieved all the recognition that goes to from the question of listing. Good precedents merit listing, there is winners without having the responsibility or exist for the high-quality refurbishment of little doubt that this experience of turning their concepts into real post-war housing schemes without the support mid-1960s estate buildings and finding out if they work. Indeed, (or constraints) of listing – and it is this emerging could be rehabilitated their own collected works are dominated by tradition of imaginative modern regeneration with handsome drawings of unrealised projects, assiduously that, in my opinion, should now inform the results. © English Heritage embellished by soi-disant commentary and future of Robin Hood Gardens. numerous photographic self-portraits – the effect of which both at the time and since has been to Should readers wish to read the full text of John Allan’s endow the Smithsons with a cult status that can open letter or to look further into the other reasons that only have reinforced their own sense of self-belief. English Heritage’s eventual advice to the Secretary The result was that although nearly 15 years of State was not to list, visit http://www.english- had elapsed since their ‘moral victory’ at Golden heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.18980. Lane, Robin Hood Gardens, their first real public housing commission, seems to have been approached not so much as a new challenge as an St Pancras opportunity to vindicate their earlier lauded Paddy Pugh thesis. But while the principles of Golden Lane Director London Region, English Heritage had by then been dramatically built out by others at Park Hill, Sheffield, the conditions there bore The transformation of one of London’s great little similarity to the site in Poplar and what had Victorian stations into the magnificent new once represented innovation no longer did. Eurostar terminal is a superb example of how an The critical and professional climate had also historic building can be adapted sympathetically radically shifted.The move towards more modest to meet modern demands. housing developments of cellular layout, with William Barlow’s magnificent train shed,built identifiable areas of landscaped space attached to as the London terminus for the Midland Railway, existing streets, was given impetus by the Housing was completed in 1868.At 75 metres wide and Association movement and ‘streets in the air’ were 31 metres high, it was the largest single-span struc- now a discredited concept. In terms of the theory ture of its day.The company’s gloriously gothic and practice of progressive urban housing, Robin Midland Grand Hotel opened 10 years later in Hood Gardens was obsolete even before its first 1878. Designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, it tenants moved in. faced on to the Euston Road and announced the

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arrival of the Midland Railway into London. Taken together, these two dramatic structures form one of the greatest monuments of the Victorian age. Sadly that did not guarantee their future.The hotel closed in 1935 and slid into low-quality office use and then progressive decay. By 1966 the station was regarded as a white elephant threatened with closure and demolition. However, following a protracted campaign led by Sir John Betjeman and a handful of enthusiasts, the building was upgraded from Grade III to Grade I in 1967. Openly derided by British Rail as a Victorian monstrosity and a ‘poor copy of a Renaissance building’, a hard battle was fought to encourage a more balanced understanding of its significance, and a more enlightened approach. In 1972 Philip Davies prepared a short conservation management plan to guide change to the building.Three years later the Greater London Council’s Historic Buildings Division initiated a with the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act. Sir George Gilbert trial cleaning exercise with Community Industry The Act provided for the construction of a Scott’s gloriously to reveal the magnificent polychrome detail new London Eurostar Terminal, replacing the gothic Midland Grand Hotel – one beneath a century of grime, which did much to temporary station at Waterloo, and a high-speed 255 of the greatest change the perceptions of the building. More rail link to the Kent coast. In total, £ million monuments of the than 10 years later the Department of Transport would be invested in St Pancras including Victorian age but provided special funding to clean the whole £50 million to refurbish Barlow’s train shed. by the mid-20th exterior of the former hotel, but it was not However, the Act also dissapplied the normal century regarded as until 1996 that its future was fully ensured planning and listed-building-consent regimes. a white elephant worthy of demoli- tion – will soon be restored to its original use. Paul Childs Spheroview © Union Railways North

Foster and Partners’ extension of St Pancras station did not seek to emulate Barlow’s original train shed, but took a deliber- ately contrasting form in concrete, steel and glass. Paul Childs/Spheroview © Union Railways North

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connections needed to be made within the wrought ironwork of the original deck beneath the platform wells.The original form of the ‘ridge-and-furrow’ glazing to the train shed roof has been restored, using 14,000 individual glass panels, with some minor adaptation to ensure it remains weathertight.The access walkways and balustrades above the roof have been remade to their original patterns and the entire roof has been re-slated, using some 300,000 Welsh slates.The overall benefits of these alterations to the station layout and function can readily be appreciated when the soaring roof structure is viewed from the International Concourse.The extensive clear glazing allows sunlight to penetrate to the areas of the undercroft. The accommodation adjoining the train shed on its east and west sides has been refurbished to accommodate all the new ancillary station St Pancras reborn: All proposals to alter or extend the Grade I train functions, including major plant-handling areas, the creative adapta- shed would have to be resolved through agree- the Eurostar lounges and retail areas.The rebuilt tion of one of ment between the railway promoter, Camden chimney stacks of the East Side Buildings now Britain’s most function as ventilation extracts, and 15 new important Victorian Council and English Heritage. Listed building landmarks into a consent would not be required. Failure to reach openings have been made in the blind arches at state of the art, agreement within a set period would trigger the north end of the west train-shed wall to create 21st-century railway resolution by the Secretary of State. new access points to the shops and restaurants. terminus has been a The new arrangements, based upon agree- The extension to the station – doubling its revelation to many. ment rather than the need to obtain consent, original length in order to accommodate the Paul Childs/ Spheroview 400 © Union Railways North required close partnerships between all those -metre-long Eurostar trains – did not seek to involved if the project was to be delivered on emulate Barlow’s original clear-span ‘pointed’ time.The start of the detailed design process arch, but took a deliberately contrasting form began a close liaison between the railway in concrete, steel and glass.The form of the new promoter, Union Railways, its architect, Foster roof, with its Vierendeel trusses, does, however, and Partners, the engineering consortium, Rail have some affinity with the north-light roofs so Link Engineering, Camden Council and English often associated with 19th-century warehouses Heritage, which lasted throughout the 10-year and station buildings, albeit in a form reworked to construction period. Every detail of the fit a 21st-century station.Where abandoned areas restoration and alteration of William Barlow’s of the original railway sidings and accommoda- train shed was considered carefully,and detailed tion had to be removed in order to build a new advice given on many technical aspects of the Thameslink station, new Eurostar accommodation scheme, from major engineering issues to the was built alongside the original train shed in appropriate colour for the repainted ironwork. matching brick and stonework, testing the skills of In the station four giant openings were cut today’s craftsmen,who produced some of the in the original train deck in order to bring the finest work ever seen in any contemporary splendid, but hitherto unseen, undercroft (once construction project. Forming a junction between used to store beer barrels) into play as the arrivals the new station roof and the north end of the and departures area.This necessitated some Barlow train shed was a particularly sensitive complex and delicate engineering work as the issue, but has been accomplished by the separation original train deck acted as a structural tie of the two main roofs by a transitional area of between the great wrought- and cast-iron ribs glazing, with its own articulation, partly supported forming Barlow’s original superstructure. by the wrought ironwork of the Barlow shed Although the original cast-iron columns of the end screen.This has ensured that views out of undercroft proved (by testing) more than capable the original train shed at platform level remain of sustaining the new train loadings, additional unencumbered by new structure.

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The new Western Ticket Hall connecting the The old Birmingham international station to the existing underground Bull Ring. Shoppers interchange has been inserted beneath the had to get to the centre through forecourt of Sir George Gilbert Scott’s Midland narrow subways Grand Hotel at the front of the station. New under the ring road, openings beneath the hotel lead directly into the which cut it off undercroft, through a wall that has been re-clad in from the thriving matching brick and stonework, and a new vaulted traditional retail streets of central transitional space.The joinery of the ground-floor Birmingham. shop fronts around the periphery of the entire © Les Sparks building has been repaired and reinstated where missing, completing the external appearance of the historic building. Complementing the Eurostar Terminal, conversion of the Midland Grand into a 5-star hotel of 245 bedrooms with residential apartments on the upper floors is well under way,and it will include a new extension over the former carriage sidings on Midland Road.This has been designed by Richard Griffiths Architects not only to harmonise with Scott’s original gothic detailing, but also to clearly express its identity as a modern addition to the building.The restoration of Road based on the concept of North American original decoration in many of the public spaces freeways.There was a municipal zeal to sweep within the hotel will give guests and visitors the away Victorian Birmingham and replace it with opportunity to enjoy a spectacular staircase and modern offices, public buildings, housing and some of the best Victorian interiors in London. shopping. This was a huge and complex project on an St Martin’s Circus, a gyratory system, was heroic scale. None of what has been achieved built where the Ring Road crossed the hillside would have been possible without the consistently between the city centre and Digbeth.This created good working relationship between English a 9.3-hectare site that the Council advertised for Heritage and all the parties involved.The restora- redevelopment as a multi-storey shopping centre, tion, alteration and extension of the train shed has with a retail market, car parking, bus station and produced a spectacular new station where the offices.The new Bull Ring Centre, developed by 19th and 21st centuries sit comfortably together. John Laing & Son, was opened in 1964, along The results speak for themselves.William Barlow with the distinctive 25-storey Rotunda office would surely approve of this successful marriage building. of old and new. This was Britain’s first completely covered The creative adaptation of one of Britain’s shopping centre, artificially heated, lighted and most important Victorian landmarks into a state ventilated.As a prototype it was deeply flawed. of the art, 21st-century railway terminus has been For example, a floor of parking separated the main a revelation to many,and it demonstrates how retail levels and gave access to lifts, which took with vision, understanding and skill, constructive cars to three upper parking decks, where conservation can offer a viable and exciting future hand-pushed trolleys transported them on rails for the past. to vacant bays.This cumbersome process led to lengthy queues.After a few weeks, these parking decks were permanently abandoned. Birmingham’s Bull Ring The main reason for the Bull Ring Centre’s commercial failure was the appalling pedestrian Les Sparks access. Shoppers had to get to the centre through Visiting Professor, University of the West of England narrow subways under the ring road, which cut it In the years after the Second World War, off from the thriving traditional retail streets of Birmingham City Council set about reshaping the central Birmingham.After 20 years, the Bull Ring city for the age of motoring, with an Inner Ring had acquired a terrible reputation. Retail units

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The new could only be let to cut-price traders, the fish Birmingham Bull market was encountering environmental health Ring.A steep and problems, and the centre’s notoriety was affecting open street leads from the High Street the city’s national image. down to the parish Attempts to redevelop the Centre began church of St during the 1980s. In 1987 London & Edinburgh Martins-in-the-Bull Trust plc submitted plans to demolish the Bull Ring, with shops on Ring Centre and the Rotunda and replace them both sides. with a much-enlarged internal shopping centre © Les Sparks and a new office tower almost twice the height of the Rotunda. Planning permission and compul- sory purchase order powers were granted, but Restored to a position close to its market conditions were unfavourable, and the original site, Centre was sold on twice.When Hammersons Birmingham’s listed acquired it, they dropped the approved plans and monument to Lord worked with Birmingham City Council to Nelson now formulate new proposals. commands a view over the new square The commercial success of any scheme would and St Martin’s depend on a stronger pedestrian connection Church. to the core shopping area. In recent years, the © Les Sparks council had been successfully downgrading and dismantling the Inner Ring Road.To the west of the Bull Ring, the section of road over a subway had been demolished and traffic and pedestrians now shared the same light-controlled crossing. It was suggested to Hammersons that a cost effective solution would be to introduce an extra-wide pedestrian crossing on the northern arm of St Martin’s Circus, and restrict vehicle traffic to buses and taxis. A non-negotiable objective of the Council was the creation of a steep and open street leading from the High Street down to the parish church of St Martins-in-the-Bull Ring, with shops on both sides.This would recreate the historic link between the early medieval settlement of Digbeth and the commercial core of Victorian Birmingham – a vital connection obliterated by the 1964 development.This was a principle that Hammersons enthusiastically embraced, along with the concept of the street terminating in a new public square centred on the church. The developers proposed twin retail develop- ments on either side of this open street, each anchored by a department store and centred on a mall. One mall would continue the alignment of New Street, the other would follow the line of the High Street.The extreme slope from the High Street to Digbeth enabled the two developments to be linked below the open street. Signing up the two department stores was crucial to any progress. Hammersons’ advisers were adamant that these powerful traders would not commit to the project without an

Issue 59: Autumn 2008 | Conservation bulletin | 35 THE OLD AND THE NEW

uninterrupted pedestrian connection to the High uncompromising visual contrast between the Street. Hammersons rejected a light-controlled Selfridges store and St Martin’s Church has crossing and insisted that buses and taxis should become one of the most celebrated architectural pass underneath a pedestrian bridge. It was agreed images of our time. It is a vivid demonstration that that the bridge should have shops on both sides juxtaposing old and new can set up stimulating so that retail frontages could continue seamlessly relationships that enrich our urban places. from New Street and High Street into the new development.This arrangement has unquestion- ably contributed to the enormous commercial The Rotunda, Birmingham success of the new development.The downside is the unpleasant undercroft for buses and taxis that Davinder Bansal also attracts some unintended pedestrian traffic Glenn Howells Architects between Moor Street and New Street stations on The Rotunda is a Grade II-listed structure either side of the development. dating from 1964 and is recognised as one of The gestation period for projects like this is Birmingham’s foremost landmarks. It has now just seldom less than a decade, plenty of time for undergone a transformation to reinstate its iconic unexpected events and market fluctuations to status on the city’s skyline. throw things off course.This project was no The proposed development involved the exception! change of use from redundant office space to In 1998 the project was threatened by the residential apartments. It also included proposals spot-listing of Old Moor Street Station (closed for a dramatic 9-metre-high entrance foyer since 1987) and its Hennebique ferro-concrete leading seamlessly from a new public square and warehouses in vaults supporting the disused tracks the re-cladding of the entire façade to enhance its to the west of the station.The vaults occupied appearance, meet modern performance standards part of the land required for the development and improve views out. (including the Selfridges store) without which the Urban Splash’s brief was to provide a diverse whole scheme would have to be redesigned. In and sustainable mix of apartments and a quality the event, one of the warehouses was brought design-led solution not only to ensure the into public use for car parking, the other was long-term future of the Rotunda but also to demolished, allowing the development to enhance its visual impact on the city context. proceed. Hammersons restored the Edwardian The urban design approach for the regenera- Moor Street Station to a very high standard. tion of the Rotunda has been to retain and The question of listing the Bull Ring never enhance the key characteristics of the original seriously arose. Reviewing the centre in August design principles, which has made the Rotunda 1964, Owen Luder had written ‘Despite a new a visual focus and marker for Birmingham. concept in shopping design … the architecture In 2000, the building was Grade II listed.The is little more than a rehash of old answers joined key credentials for the listing were the simple together in a haphazard and unrelated way.’The cylindrical 20-storey tower form with a distinct only exception was the Rotunda, listed in 2000, setback feature at the top, the horizontal podium which has been converted by Urban Splash into at the base of the tower and the distinctive apartments by Glenn Howells Architects (see horizontal banding on the façade.The only inter- this page).The new fenestration is closer to the nal listing was a mural by artist John Poole for the intentions of its original architect, James Roberts, former banking hall in the podium. It was impor- who was consulted on the redesign. tant for the design team to acknowledge the Also restored, and to a position close to its irrelevance of construction details and materials original site, is the listed monument to Lord and to focus instead on the form and expression Nelson. It was erected in 1809 but later moved that makes the Rotunda unique and distinctive. and parked in a desolate area of the 1964 develop- From the outset of the design process, it was ment in a failed attempt to recreate the historic agreed that the existing mid-height cill levels in Speakers’ Corner. It now commands a view over the tower should be dropped to improve views the new square and St Martin’s Church. out. However, this conflicted with the strong This dynamic commercial project has horizontal banding of glass panels and concrete successfully integrated five listed structures and spandrels, a key contributor to the listing. reinstated an historic street connection.The This was raised as a concern early on by both

36 | Conservation bulletin | Issue 59: Autumn 2008 SHOCK OF THE NEW (AND NEARLY NEW)

Developers Urban Splash and architects Glenn Howells have taken Birmingham’s Grade II-listed Rotunda back to its original 1964 design while modernising it to meet the needs of 21st-century living. © Nic Gaunt

English Heritage and the 20th Century Society, Heritage and the 20th Century Society as well who opposed the proposal. It was not resolved as the planning and conservation officers at until the original architect, James Roberts, was Birmingham City Council. tracked down to discuss his vision for the The cylindrical tower was arranged on a building. From his original sketches in 1961, 5-degrees facet making up 72 modules per floor. the floor-to-ceiling glazing with much lower The new cladding system retains the smooth spandrels was clearly evident, similar to our new curvature of the original façade to complement proposals. Limited cladding technology and cost the inherent form and is therefore arranged on constraints enforced James to build higher cill the existing 5-degrees facet with floor-to-ceiling levels with concrete and less glass. glazing. It was apparent that we were taking the The original sash openings set flush into building back to its original design some 40 years the silver aluminium glazing frames helped to later on and this was welcomed by English maintain a consistent appearance for both fixed

The redevelopment of Birmingham’s Rotunda has not only involved a change of use from redundant office space to residential apartments but also the chance to enhance its visual impact on the city. © Nic Gaunt

Issue 59: Autumn 2008 | Conservation bulletin | 37 THE OLD AND THE NEW

and opening glass lights.The sash lights also Testing the textured panel under different lighting maintained the smooth form of the tower by conditions also convinced the 20th Century not projecting outwards when opened.These Society that this solution would retain the reflec- principles were retained as a key intent for the tive quality while addressing the longevity issues. external design of the new façade and the The distinct top separated from the rest of full-height fixed and opening lights shared the the tower by a step-back feature in the façade same profile and consistency in appearance, has always been viewed as a ‘candle’or ‘lighting finished in natural anodised aluminium.The beacon’ to the Rotunda. From an illuminated opening lights were designed to tilt and slide Coca-Cola sign to a digital clock wrapping internally to preserve the smoothness and around, the top band is key to the visual quality simplicity of the elevation. of this landmark from the short-, mid- and long- The original concrete panels were finished distance views around the city.To maintain this with small glass mosaic tiles to the external face; visual importance for the city,we have developed when sunlight hit the mosaic tiles a contrasting designs for a state-of-the-art LED screen that quality of reflection from the striking reflections wraps the entire 360-degree, 4-metre-high expected on the clear glazing was given.With the lightbox.The LED screen would provide endless new full-height glazing, it was more critical to design options incorporating colour, signage and achieve this on the reduced spandrel section in animation, which could reflect events, occasions order to maintain the emphasis of the horizontal and artwork on a city scale, like a virtual gallery banding and to avoid the appearance of a sheer space. glass tower.This was a concern raised by the 20th The design decisions made throughout the Century Society as a potential consequence of process have been focused on maintaining the dropping the cill height and increasing the glass simplicity of the original vision while addressing area. the technical issues such as acoustics, ventilation The option to propose similar mosaic tiles and thermal requirements for modern living. bonded on to the spandrel presented concerns Above all, taking this 1960s’ icon into the 21st over future maintenance and durability as the century for many more graceful years has been existing tiles were falling off as a result of the the driving force, because without it, Birmingham eventual failure of the adhesive bonding.As an would not be the same. alternative, we proposed a white opaque, textured- glass panel for the spandrel, giving a fractured reflection similar to the original mosaic tiles. The Angel of the North

Councillor Mick Henry The dramatic new Leader of Gateshead Council entrance to Urban Splash’s renovated It is very hard today to imagine Gateshead Rotunda building. without the Angel of the North; in fact, it is © Nic Gaunt almost impossible.The Angel is now woven into the cultural, social and physical landscape of our borough and is very much part of our identity. Ten years after its arrival, we have been celebrating in style and the number of people involved in marking this anniversary has been a staggering demonstration of the sculpture’s popu- larity as an icon of the North East. More than 2,000 local people attended a birthday party at the foot of the Angel while thousands more were involved in workshops, events and competitions as part of a community engagement programme. The Angel has certainly raised the profile of Gateshead and the North East by playing a major part in the re-positioning and re-branding of the borough as a forward-thinking, progressive place to visit, to work in, to move to, and a place to

38 | Conservation bulletin | Issue 59: Autumn 2008 SHOCK OF THE NEW (AND NEARLY NEW)

Since its unveiling in 1998,Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North has become inextricably woven into the cultural, social and physical landscape of Gateshead. © Gateshead Council

invest in. I do not think anyone could, or would, At the time, Gateshead’s contribution to deny that it has provided an iconic symbol for public art had already been recognised with the Gateshead’s cultural renaissance but, ten years ago, award of the Royal Town Planning Institute’s when we were planning the Angel it was a very Silver Jubilee Cup 1990, after 70 works of public different picture. art were commissioned in the run-up to the When we were planning for this year’s National Garden Festival in 1990. But although celebrations, we had to go over a host of old Gateshead Council had been investing in public documents, cuttings and council papers, which art for many years prior to the Angel, there is no made for some very interesting reading.The doubt that this was the first installation to register planning application dated 9 May 1994 sought on the national consciousness. approval to ‘install a landmark sculpture As far back as 1989, the site of the former commissioned from Antony Gormley,measuring pithead baths of Team Colliery was identified approximately 20 metres high with a span of as a possible location for a large-scale public art up to 52 metres, fabrication in steel’. installation. In July 1990, a report to Gateshead Looking through these documents reminded Council’s Art in Public Places Panel decided, in us of the coolness of the reception that the principle, to earmark the site for a large landmark proposal received and, in some cases, of clear sculpture.That entire scheme was funded by the objections.This included opposition from the Derelict Land Grant, which was approved by the Highways Agency,who were concerned about Department of Environment, in February 1991. road safety,while reservations were also voiced Adjacent to the A1 and visible to rail passengers by the Radio Communications Agency about on the East Coast Mainline, the site offered the interference with TV signals.There was a petition perfect spot to welcome visitors entering signed by more than 4,000 local people and a Gateshead, while also giving them a clear indica- campaign by a local newspaper that encouraged tion as to how the borough wanted to be seen. people to write to the government – prompting The prime objective of the sculpture was to 2,000 letters of complaint, and just three in provide a strong landmark near the region’s support. principal transport corridor but now,for many,

Issue 59: Autumn 2008 | Conservation bulletin | 39 THE OLD AND THE NEW

In 2008 more than 2,000 local people attended a birthday party at the foot of the Angel while thousands more were involved in workshops, events and competitions as part of a community engagement programme. © Gateshead Council

the Angel is highly symbolic, representing the ambition and an ability to deliver big projects. transformation of an industrial economy to one Thirdly,the Angel has led to a significant number based on creativity.The choice of an angel was of new jobs and additional investment, including also significant – guarding the people of more than £145 million-worth of lottery funding Gateshead at its back but welcoming newcomers, for the Sage Gateshead,The Gateshead with open arms. Millennium Bridge and BALTIC. Fourthly,the So, the overall rationale behind the Angel Angel has served as a major stimulus to tourism in was to put Gateshead on the map, to change both Tyne and Wear and the wider North-East perceptions, and to celebrate the past while region. Finally,it has stimulated new confidence pointing the way to a new future. Despite the and the development of a growth agenda for widespread early scepticism, the Angel has been Gateshead and the region. a resounding success, receiving a multitude of There are also wider benefits – the Angel has accolades from the media and gaining a high featured in national and international media so level of recognition among the general public. many times that any attempt to keep track of this But this has been so much more than just a has now been abandoned.The value in promo- sculpture or piece of public art – it has actually tional terms cannot be accurately calculated but helped the borough and the wider North-East the regularity and quality of exposure would have region grow in many tangible ways.We think cost millions, if its advertising equivalents had there are five main areas where the Angel has been purchased. had a major impact for Gateshead and we are The Angel has become part of popular culture currently looking at ways of accurately and, judging by the number of regions that now measuring this. want their own respective angels of the East,West First, it has helped to put Gateshead and and South, it has also become a shorthand for North-East England on the map, both nationally public art and regeneration. Ultimately,the Angel and internationally,with the associated media is about local people and we estimate that more coverage being real ‘place-making’in action. than 8,000 people visit the site every week. I think Secondly,it has had a profound impact on the that shows just how much this new icon has been self-perceptions of Gateshead Council, which taken to heart. now sees itself as an organisation that has both

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Constructive Conservation in Practice The 20 exemplary schemes in this new English Heritage publication demonstrate the results of constructive conservation: a well-informed, collabo- rative approach to conservation-led development. The progressive local authorities, developers and architects in this book have responded to the very latest ideas in modern conservation practice and have combined pre-application discussion with English Heritage and the elements of our CONSTRUCTIVE Conservation Principles with their own creativity CONSERVATION and confidence.The results are schemes which IN PRACTICE are not just commercially successful but have added distinctiveness and meaning to the places in which we live.

Copies of the book can be obtained from English Heritage Customer Services on 0870 333 1181 or by email to [email protected]. You can also click on www.english-heritage.org.uk/ constructiveconservation to see a short film, download or read a copy online and find out more about English Heritage’s constructive approach and how that underpins the advice it gives.

Cover illustration: Sheffield’s Grade II*-listed Park Hill housing development after its recent refurbishment by Urban Splash. Photo: © Smoothe

The Grade II*-listed Midland Hotel in the seaside resort of Morecambe is one of the most important 20th-century buildings on the English west coast.After years of decline, it was taken on by Urban Splash with the aim of reopening the hotel. English Heritage was able to enrich the architects’ good understanding of the building’s history and advise on the most effective ways of integrating new features with the old. In parallel, Lancaster City Council’s drive and enthusiasm helped Urban Splash bring back to Morecambe the 1930s’ glamour exemplified by this exceptional building. © Simon Webb Photography

Issue 59: Autumn 2008 | Conservation bulletin | 41 News from English Heritage

LEADER and the Historic Environment Progress on improved protection of LEADER is a European Commission initiative to World Heritage Sites support the development of rural areas across the Of the three initiatives to improve the protection European Union, which has been particularly of World Heritage Sites announced by the successful in helping local groups identify and government in the Heritage Protection Review, care for their heritage. Under the new Rural the inclusion of all World Heritage Sites in Article Development Programme for England (RDPE) 1(5) Land came into effect on 1 October.This 2007–13,LEADER will become one of the main limits some forms of permitted development. ways of distributing EU funds (5 per cent, or Consultation has been completed on the £110m based on current estimates) with its new draft call-in regulations, which included a delivery being managed by the Regional provision requiring local authorities to refer to Development Agencies (RDAs). the secretary of state any development proposal This new publication describes some of the to which English Heritage has objected because important work carried out by the LEADER+ of the potential impact on the ‘Outstanding Programme to realise the potential of the historic Universal Value’of a World Heritage Site. environment. English Heritage encourages Local Consultation has also now been completed Action Groups (the local partnerships), working on the draft planning circular on World Heritage alongside the RDAs and others, including Natural Sites together with its supporting English England and the Forestry Commission to build Heritage guidance note.The circular and on this good work. It is hoped the examples guidance note will provide updated policy contained within this document will inspire guidance on the level of protection and others during the delivery of the 2007–13 RDPE. management required for World Heritage Sites. Copies can be obtained from English Heritage Contact: Dr Christopher Young; Customer Services on 0870 333 1181, by quoting tel: 020 7973 3848; Produce Code 51455, or it can be downloaded email: [email protected] from www.helm.org.uk Contact: Shane Gould; tel: 020 7973 3119; Updated guidance on enabling email: [email protected] development Following a full consultation process, English Heritage’s Policy and Guidance on Enabling Development and the Conservation of Significant Places has now been published and supersedes the previous June 2001 edition. It should be stressed that the policy approach itself has not changed, although its wording has been updated to align with English Heritage’s Conservation Principles, Policies and Guidance for the Sustainable Management of the Historic Environment (April 2008).The guidance has been updated to reflect practical experience, changing legislation, some Planning Inspectorate decisions, and the terminology of the Principles, Policies and Guidance. Copies can be obtained from English Heritage Customer Services on 0870 333 1181, by quoting Produce Code 51452, or it can be downloaded from www.helm.org.uk Contact: David Tomback;tel: 020 7973 3369; email: [email protected]

42 | Conservation bulletin | Issue 59: Autumn 2008 Maximising participation DCMS have recently asked for expressions of interest in a major research project with the short title ‘Maximising Participation’.The purpose of the project is to improve understanding of the drivers of, and the value and benefits afforded by,engagement in culture and sport. English Heritage,Arts Council England, Museums Libraries and Archives Council, Sport England and the Regional Cultural Consortiums are part- ners in this research project.The timescale of the project is three years, but with interim and final outputs on different aspects of the project likely to be published during the three-year period. More details can be found at: http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/ research_and_statistics/5389.aspx Contact: Geoff Dawe; tel: 020 7973 3840; email: [email protected]

Heritage Counts 2008 English Heritage’s Heritage Counts publication, the annual survey of the state of England’s historic environment, has just been published.This year’s report focuses on climate change and the sector’s Planning Policy Statement reforms positive contribution in tackling this very As part of the Heritage Protection Reforms, important issue. It explores a number of initiatives drafting is under way on a Planning Policy currently under way that aim to reduce carbon Statement (PPS) to cover the historic environ- emissions from the historic environment and ment and replace the current Planning Policy looks at how the sector is preparing for the Guidance Notes 15 Planning and the Historic changes caused by climate change, ensuring that Environment and 16 Archaeology and Planning. the historic environment will continue to be DCMS and CLG are planning to begin the enjoyed be generations to come.As in previous formal consultation around Christmas to align years, there is also a summary of the policy with the passage of the Bill through Parliament. developments affecting the sector and a discussion DCMS and CLG have asked English of the key data trends. Heritage to take the lead in the early stages of Alongside the national report, a suite of drafting and soundings are being taken from regional reports provides further detail on the organisations in the historic-environment sector state of the historic environment in the nine with further events planned after Christmas.The government regions. Further details can be found final version of the PPS will be brought into force at: www.heritagecounts.org.uk at the same time as the Act, sometime in 2010. Contact: Laura Clayton; tel: 020 7973 3730; Contact: Charles Wagner; tel: 020 7973 3826; email: [email protected] email: [email protected]

English Heritage website survey English Heritage is running a consultation to find out how well the current website (www.english-heritage.org.uk) meets users’ requirements and to identify which new services and improvements should be a priority for development.This stage in the consultation is a short, anonymous, online questionnaire.We would value your views, so please take two minutes to fill in the survey at www.english-heritage.org.uk/websurvey

Issue 59: Autumn 2008 | Conservation bulletin | 43 The National Monuments Record News and Events

The NMR is the public archive of English (www.pastscape.org.uk) has undergone major Heritage. It includes more than 10 million archive development work to improve its functionality items (photographs, drawings, reports and digital and accessibility,and to add new features.These data) relating to England’s historic environment. improvements include a new Map Search and Catalogues are available online and in the NMR Advanced Search to make searches more effective search room in Swindon. and results more relevant. By registering, website users are also able to Save Searches and have The following information gives details of new access to free Downloads. Public users are now web resources and exhibitions. able to access detailed descriptions associated with Contact the NMR at: many records, which are linked to references such NMR Enquiry & Research Services, as bibliographical sources, information from maps, National Monuments Record, websites etc.Together these build up a rolling Kemble Drive, Swindon sn2 2gz history of our knowledge of the site or tel: 01793 414600 monument in question.These changes will be fax: 01793 414606 especially useful for the retrieval of Maritime email: [email protected] Records.This development represents part of a web: www.english-heritage.org.uk/nmr major commitment to improve public accessibility and understanding of NMR datasets. Online Resources from the NMR ViewFinder PastScape ViewFinder (www.english-heritage.org.uk/ PastScape is the publicly accessible online version viewfinder) is an online picture resource drawing of the national database of monuments recorded on the NMR’s national photographic collections. at the NMR. During 2008 the website New material is added quarterly.

A toll gate stood at the intersection of Kennington Park and Camberwell New Road, Lambeth, until the toll was abolished in 1865. The toll house and gate are photographed here circa 1853, in a view from the B E C Howarth-Loomes Collection. Reproduced by permission of English Heritage.NMR BB79/08403

44 | Conservation bulletin | Issue 59: Autumn 2008 The chorus dressing-room in the Apollo Victoria Theatre,Westminster, being used by the cast of Starlight Express, December 2001. © English Heritage.NMR AA032294

London West End theatres About 1,500 photographs of London’s West End theatres have recently been added to this website. Taken as part of the English Heritage West End Theatres project, these photographs record both the familiar front-of-house and the hidden back- stage areas.A selection of these images appeared in the book Scene/Unseen: London’s West End Theatres (S Barson et al 2003. London: English Heritage) Historic Views of London by Ann Saunders Historic Views of London:Photographs from the collection of B E C Howarth-Loomes presents a selection of views of London. Ranging in date from 1852 to 1915, the subject matter is as varied as the city itself. Containing more than 200 historic images, this book provides an impression of how London was seen by Victorian and Edwardian photographers, and is a fitting tribute to a remarkable collector. (Published by English Heritage, price £19.99, ISBN 978 905624 188, Product Code 51348. SPECIAL OFFER PRICE:£17.00 until 31 January 2009 – see back page for further details.

Issue 59: Autumn 2008 | Conservation bulletin | 45 Legal Developments Smithfield Chop Axed Jane Burgess and Mike Harlow, English Heritage Legal Team

The tests for demolition of a building in a building had not been fully marketed.The conservation area have recently been closely developer said, in short, that in light of the costs examined in a long and hotly contested public of the repairs and the need to crack on with inquiry. them, it could be shown on paper that no one Smithfield’s General Market Building is a large would find the building economically attractive. unlisted Victorian building that together with the neighbouring poultry and meat market buildings Stuff that has been identified as interesting (which are both listed) forms the spine and heart is to be kept, unless there is a good reason of the Smithfield conservation area on the fringes not to do so. This applies to all of the City of London.The area is undoubtedly designations and all grades. well stocked in character. It provides a contrast to the neck-craning glass and steel monoliths of the The Inspector agreed that a re-use scheme City and mid-town office blocks. looked ‘borderline’ on paper. But even in a A developer planned to demolish the General paper exercise he said that one should ignore the Market Building and a couple of neighbouring costs of repair due to the owner’s neglect.This smaller buildings to provide an office block improved the figures for the building’s retention. with ground-floor retail. Despite some very However, the tipping point of the Inspector’s complicated facts, the Inspector’s report, adopted reasoning was this: genuine marketing was the by the Secretary of State in her call-in decision, only true way to prove that no one would view is seductively clear in its reasoning. the existing buildings as economically attractive. He did not consider that such marketing had English Heritage argued that the only true taken place.The inspector did also consider the test of whether a building had an benefits of demolishing and, as a result, being economic life was to see if anyone able to replace the structure over the railway would buy it on the market. sooner.That was a benefit, but not enough, in the circumstances, to outweigh the loss of the He started first by looking at the value of buildings. what is already there. He concluded that the Although not key to the decision to retain buildings make a significant positive contribution the buildings, the Inspector did comment that to the character and appearance of the conserva- the proposal for the replacement building caused tion area. Critically,that meant the tests in PPG15 harm to the character and appearance of the for demolition of listed buildings applied in this area, partly by being out of character with the case, notwithstanding that the principal building small-scale uses in Smithfield. Indeed, what is was not listed. Permission for demolition could very notable is that the Inspector emphasised the be given if the building could be shown to be importance of current uses and unit size in giving unsustainable in economic terms, or, if there was the area its character – looking at activity as well a substantial community benefit to be derived as the bricks and mortar that envelop it. from the replacement building. Permission for demolition and the new build A complicating factor for the site is the were refused.There is a truly important message Thameslink railway over which the building being reinforced here. Stuff that has been identi- forms a bridge.The building needs repair and fied as interesting is to be kept, unless there is a it was argued that this needed to be done for good reason not to do so.This applies to all safety,had to be done urgently before planned designations and all grades.The good reasons development of Thameslink took place and would for letting something go are set out in PPG 15. cost a bank-breaking amount of money (if we Proving you have a good reason is an intentionally can still use that phrase to mean ‘large’). rigorous task. English Heritage argued that the only true test While the future of the building is not yet of whether a building had an economic life was clear, the planning considerations that apply to to see if anyone would buy it on the market.The its future most definitely are.

46 | Conservation bulletin | Issue 59: Autumn 2008 New publications from English Heritage

Hambledon Hill, Dorset, England: Great Lengths:The Swimming Pools of Excavation and Survey of a Neolithic Britain Monument Complex and its Surrounding Ian Gordon and Simon Inglis Landscape Great Lengths, the eighth book in the acclaimed Roger Mercer and Played in Britain series, traces the development of Frances Healy indoor public baths and pools, from the earliest A programme of excavation and survey directed subscription baths of the Georgian period to the by Roger Mercer between 1974 and 1986 current generation of leisure pools with their demonstrated that Hambledon Hill was the site flumes and potted palm trees. of an exceptionally large and diverse complex of Between the 1880s and 1914 more than 600 earlier Neolithic earthworks.The abundant baths were constructed, many rich in architectural cultural material preserved in its ditches and pits detail and technological innovation.Together they provides information about numerous aspects reflect the civic pride of their creators, as greater of contemporary society and the distinct awareness of hygiene and physical fitness brought depositional signatures of various parts of the safe swimming and recreation to the urban masses. complex reflect their diverse use. A further burst of activity between the wars saw a A complementary relationship with new generation of concrete and glass Art-Deco Cranborne Chase is indicated by a fairly abrupt baths and in the 1960s these were joined by diminution of activity on the hill in the late 4th classic Modern designs. millennium, when the massive Dorset cursus and Great Lengths is no mere exercise in nostalgia. several smaller monuments were built near by. Scores of Victorian and Edwardian baths have Excavation proves, however, that there was been allowed to deteriorate. Dozens remain closed renewed activity on the hill at various times and the subject of long-running campaigns for during the 3rd and 2nd millennia before the site restoration.Yet many modern baths built in the was finally used for the construction of a major late 20th century have also been found wanting. Iron Age hillfort. For this reason, this book will serve as an One of the first titles in English Heritage’s important reference for anyone involved in the new print-on-demand programme, this important current debate, whether as swimmers or providers. new research report is illustrated with 348 line PUBLICATION DATE:January 2009 drawings and half tones, 9 colour plates plus 193 PRICE: £19.99 + £2.00 P&P tables. SPECIAL OFFER PRICE: £17.00 PUBLICATION DATE: ISBN: 978 1 90562 425 2 September 2008 PRODUCT CODE 51321 Paperback, 280 pp PRICE: £100.00 + £6.00 P&P ISBN: 978 1 905624 59 1 PRODUCT CODE 51319 Paperback (2 vols), 816 pp

Issue 59: Autumn 2008 | Conservation bulletin | 47 several photographic books and collaborated with authors such as Sir John Betjeman and the architectural historian Gavin Stamp. To celebrate the centenary of John Gay’s birth an exhibition of his images, drawing on the substantial collection bequeathed to the NMR, will be held at Kenwood House, from 29 January to 29 March 2009, open daily from 11.30am to 4pm. Short tours of the exhibition will take place at 2.30pm, Friday – Sunday, admission free. PUBLICATION DATE:January 2009 PRICE: £20.00 + £2.00 P&P SPECIAL OFFER PRICE: £17.00 ISBN: 978 1 848020 03 0 PRODUCT CODE 51395 Paperback, 324 pp

SPECIAL OFFER Until 31 January 2009 Historic Views of London (see p 45) England Observed and Great Lengths will be available to Conservation Bulletin readers at a special discount price of £17.00, plus £2.00 P&P,through English Heritage Postal Sales at the address shown below (please quote CONBULL59). England Observed: John Gay (1909–1999) edited by Andrew Sargent Publications may be ordered from English Heritage Postal Sales, John Gay was one of the most respected photo- c/o Gillards,Trident Works,March Lane,Temple Cloud, graphers of the mid-20th century but, unlike Bristol BS39 5AZ; 01761 452966 01761 453408 some of his contemporaries, his work is now tel: ; fax: ; email: [email protected] largely overlooked.This important book includes 300 evocative photographs from the large Please make all cheques payable in sterling to English Heritage. Publications may also be ordered from collection of his photographs held by the www.english-heritage.org.uk National Monuments Record. John Gay came to England in 1935 from Germany,and much of his photographic output can be viewed as an exploration of his adopted Please remember to recycle this publication homeland. John Gay worked extensively for when you no longer need it. Country Fair, The Strand, Farmer’s Weekly, published Conservation Bulletin appears three times a year. It is printed on paper made from chlorine-free pulp sourced from sustainable managed forests. ISSN 0753–8674 Product Code: 51457 Subscription enquiries and change of address: tel: 020 7973 3253; email: [email protected] Additional copies: [email protected] Guest editor: Chris Smith Editorial and project management:Whimster Associates Ltd; tel: 01672 521525; email: [email protected] Layout: Libanus Press Ltd Printed by: Hawthornes Ltd Web version: www.english-heritage.org.uk © English Heritage 2008 English Heritage is the Government’s lead body for the historic environment. English Heritage, 1 Waterhouse Square, 138–142 Holborn, London ec1n 2st London Bridge Station c. 1960–72. © English Heritage.NMR

48 | Conservation bulletin | Issue 59: Autumn 2008